Jeff Stelling baffled live on talkSPORT as Lopetegui claim made at West Ham
Jeff Stelling has been left bemused by claims that Julen Lopetegui has been given enough time to prove himself at West Ham.
The Spaniard has been under immense pressure to turn things around after just 11 Premier League matches in charge, with the Hammers only claiming three wins.
That was until an impressive 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday 25 November, with goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka helping to buy Lopetegui more time as head coach.
Reacting to a West Ham fan’s claim that Lopetegui has had long enough to prove himself, live via talkSPORT [26 November, 7:10am], Stelling said: “You say he’s been given long enough… How on earth can that be construed as long enough?”
Julen Lopetegui remains under pressure at West Ham United?
An unexpected victory at St James’ Park should not be enough to take the spotlight off the new head coach, especially after such a dreadful start to the campaign.
A torrid run of results in all competitions saw a 3-1 loss to Manchester City, a 3-0 loss to Chelsea, a 5-1 thrashing from Liverpool in the EFL Cup, a 4-1 loss to Tottenham and even a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
Despite all these defeats and awful performances in front of their own fans, the Hammers are just four points behind sixth-placed Spurs and could begin a rise up the Premier League table.
Much like the Newcastle clash, Lopetegui’s side will not be expected to get a positive result against Arsenal on Saturday 30 November, but the December fixtures have plenty of opportunity for points.
During the winter period, the Hammers will face the likes of Leicester City, Wolves, and Southampton, and wins in all of these games could see them jump to the top half of the table.
Only then would more pressure come off Lopetegui’s shoulders at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers sent scouts to watch a second Sunderland player after Chris Rigg.
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