It’s fair to say everyone’s still waiting for West Ham to really kick on under Julen Lopetegui.
One win from our first four league games doesn’t look great on paper, until you consider the fact we’ve had to play two Champions League sides, one of which is the world’s best team, and two away fixtures against tricky opposition in Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Four points on the board so far is probably what many would’ve predicted, or been relatively happy with, before a ball was even kicked, so it’s not like we’ve started the season badly and are already looking over our shoulders.
The fact is, it’s still very early days in Lopetegui’s reign to truly make any judgements on whether he is the perfect replacement for David Moyes.
Fans wanted a more attractive style of play and, aside from the performances against Crystal Palace and Fulham, there have been some signs of that, especially in the second half of the 3-1 home defeat to champions Manchester City, where we had them on the ropes at times and hit the post twice.
And this was echoed by West Ham podcaster James Jones on this week’s We Are West Ham Podcast, who explained that he’s waiting until he’s seen Lopetegui’s strongest XI have a run of games before making any kind of judgment on the overall style of play.
Jones said: “It’s still too early to go ‘I don’t think this is going to work’ because we haven’t seen, I don’t think, West Ham at its absolute strongest under Lopetegui.
“That’s why I’m reserving judgement on style. I’ve said over the last few weeks, I’ve seen enough [to suggest there has been improvements.]
“That’s not to say I don’t want to see more, I one hundred per cent do. I don’t like the fact we’ve gone to Fulham and had to scrape a 95th minute equaliser, just as much as I don’t like the fact we went to Fulham last year and got battered 5-0, squad illness or not.
“But we have to look at it and go well, this is eight new outfield players, a new manager and a so-called new style of play that everyone needs to get up to speed with and we’re only four league games in.”
Jones’ views are in stark contrast to his co-host Will Pugh’s views on the matter, who went on to say that he was worried because he can’t see any kind of pattern of play in possession under Lopetegui and is struggling to work out what his style actually is.
Realistically, it’s going to take time for Lopetegui to imprint his ideas on to a squad which hasn’t only been used to playing a far more defensive style over the last four years, but also has eight new players to integrate into the dressing room.
If things don’t appear to changed by, say mid-October or early November, then perhaps it’ll be time to get worried about what the future might hold under the Spaniard.
