If Julen Lopetegui‘s days as West Ham boss weren’t numbered before, they certainly are now.
The Spaniard has overseen just three Premier League wins from the Hammers’ opening 11 games of the new season, which has led to calls far and wide for him to be sacked.
The criticism aimed at him isn’t necessarily down to results alone. Performances have been poor, there’s not much in the way of a tactical identity and many of the squad’s best players haven’t been performing at the levels they have previously shown.
On top of that, there have been disciplinary concerns, with three red cards already this term, and rumours of unrest at board level over the decision to appoint Lopetegui in the first place.
So it’s little wonder many expected Lopetegui to get the chop after West Ham’s most recent outing, which was a 0-0 home draw with fellow strugglers Everton.
But he’s still clinging on in east London and it is now being reported that if he fails to get positive results against Newcastle away and Arsenal at home in the next two fixtures, the club will decide to move him on.
They are two fixtures that are arguably the toughest for any manager to get results, let alone one who appears to have been given an ultimatum. We don’t know whether that has been the communicated to him, but The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg has reported that if there’s no improvement from those two outings, Lopetegui will be sacked.
West Ham have won just one of their last five trips to St. James’ Park and only have five victories there in the Premier League era, so history is already against Lopetegui when he takes his West Ham players to the north east on Monday night.
Meanwhile, despite their poor form of late, Arsenal will still count themselves as serious title contenders and will be desperate to keep up with rivals Man City and Liverpool. Their 6-0 victory at London Stadium last season is all the evidence you need that they can cause serious damage to West Ham on their day.
So Lopetegui has something of a mountain to climb if he is to make true his ongoing promise that things will eventually improve.
Steinberg’s report claims “there is a serious prospect of him being fired this month” if things don’t change and that West Ham may even make a decision after the Newcastle game if the Hammers are on the end of a heavy defeat.
Edin Terzic continues to be named as a manager the club are giving serious consideration to as Lopetegui’s replacement, while the Guardian have previously listed Kasper Hjulmand, Roger Schmidt and Sebastian Hoeness as potential targets.
