Julen Lopetegui commits ‘sackable offence’ as West Ham United loss to Chelsea loses fans
Julen Lopetegui would have been sacked off the back of the West Ham loss to Chelsea if it had come later in the season, says Tom Rennie.
The talkSPORT broadcaster reacted via X on 21 September as the Hammers were being beaten 3-0 at home by their London rivals in front of an increasingly empty London Stadium.
He cited the dismal 6-0 home defeat to Arsenal last season (11 February) which heaped pressure on David Moyes and saw his contract extension shelved [90min, 14 February], suggesting the negative verdict on Lopetegui from the fanbase has already surpassed that point.
He wrote: “I actually think it’s more empty today than it was at this point against Arsenal. The team have lost the crowd. A truly desperate performance from West Ham. If this was November, it would be a sackable offence.”
Julen Lopetegui has not lifted West Ham since David Moyes exit
It might usually be the height of an overreaction to start speaking about the sack after just six games of a new regime but the situation has turned ugly fast in East London.
Moyes’ tenure felt like it was on life support for most of last term but even the Scot’s most scathing critics couldn’t deny what he had done previously with the club, lifting the Irons from relegation candidates to European trophy winners.
Lopetegui has none of that credit to his name and after a summer of change which, on paper, appeared to be very positive, he has so far proved to be a huge disappointment.
The jury will remain out on the transfer haul on the pitch, even though there was a lot to be excited by Tim Steidten’s window at the time, but the pressure was always going to be on the new boss to get it to work in practice.
The Spaniard can point to the fact that the lion’s share of the new arrivals came in relatively late in the summer and so much change could take some time to properly click.
But he must have known he would need to show early signs that he has a plan to bring it all together and so far there has been little evidence on the pitch.
Having invested well over £100million in the transfer market this summer the board will want to see returns, so the window may bring the prospect of a quick change at manager forward significantly.
Moyes’ reign looked to have run its course but the key point during the debate about his future was change could see fortunes get better or worse, and so far the warning signs are there that it is the latter.
In other West Ham news, the Irons want to sign a highly sought-after free agent defender.
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