After winning just three of his first 10 Premier League games in charge at West Ham, it’s little wonder many fans are calling for Julen Lopetegui to be sacked already.
That’s even without taking into account the fact there has been very little in the way of a clear style of play to get behind. The results haven’t been great, but the performances have mostly been a lot worse.
I’ve written extensively in recent weeks about the need to remain patient with the Spaniard, insisting that it is way too early to call judgment on his ability to take this club forward and build on the success created by David Moyes over the previous four years.
But after the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last weekend, and the manner in which the game played out, I’m finding it very difficult to keep making excuses for the manager.
Indeed, it might still be too early to make a decision on his future, but there has been no sign whatsoever that things are on the verge of changing, nor have there been any signs that the players are fully on board with his style and tactics. If anything, it’s quite the opposite.
The second half performance in the recent 2-1 victory over Man United was positive and it appeared as if Lopetegui had stumbled across his strongest XI and an approach that would get the very best out of the players on the pitch. As a result, it as simply assumed that this would be the same XI that would start again Forest.
Instead, Lopetegui made more changes to his starting XI and even tweaked his formation to a back five. The last time he lined us up with a back five we lost to Chelsea 3-0. It just doesn’t make sense!
With all that considered, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was revealed Lopetegui was on the verge of being sacked. After a summer of huge investment and expectation, it is becoming more and more unacceptable that there are no signs of improvement on the pitch to justify being patient.
But, in a report that will leave West Ham fans scratching their heads, it appears the Spaniard is not in any immediate danger of being handed his P45.
That’s according to Football Insider, who claim the West Ham board see Lopetegui’s appointment as ‘long-term’ and won’t rush into making the decision to sack him.
With Everton up next at London Stadium, it would seem obvious to anyone that a failure to win that should be the final nail in Lopetegui’s coffin. A trip to Newcastle and a home clash with Arsenal follow the international break, which means this week’s clash against Everton is not just a must-win, it’s incredibly vital.
A failure to pick up all three points could be catastrophic and would leave us in a very difficult position heading into December and the busy festive period.
The report does acknowledge that if West Ham don’t win against Everton then alarm bells will start ringing but, in all honesty, they should already be ringing loudly. This would suggest that defeat to the Toffees still won’t lead to Lopetegui’s departure, and we will have to sit through an international break and difficult fixtures against Newcastle and Arsenal before any action is taken.
So it’s all a bit confusing, to be honest. I’ve been patient up to this point but the failure to build on the win against Man United by sticking to what worked means my patience is now running very thin.
