Julen Lopetegui leaves Anfield on crutches after West Ham United loss

Julen Lopetegui left Anfield on crutches after West Ham United lost to Liverpool on Wednesday night, according to Kathryn Batte.

The Daily Mail journalist posted on X (25 September), stating that Lopetegui left Anfield with assistance following the Irons' 5-1 loss, having hurt his calf after Crysencio Summerville missed a chance.

Loptegui reportedly pulled his calf in his reaction to Summerville failing to make it 3-2 midway through the second half on Merseyside and had limped out of the post-match press conference as a result.

Julen Lopetegui and West Ham limp away from Liverpool

Lopetegui leaving the stadium on crutches is perhaps the perfect microcosm of his time in charge at the London Stadium – he's been given the assistance, but movement has been restricted thus far.

A 5-1 defeat just days after being hammered 3-0 at home to Chelsea leaves Lopetegui with questions aplenty on his best team, and arguably even more coming from fans over whether his job is safe [GiveMeSport, 23 September].

The Spaniard can't argue that he hasn't been backed in the transfer market, spending over £130million in this summer's window, but that heavy investment is yet to yield significant results.

Just two wins across seven attempts in all competitions so far – both coming via late second-half surges – have hardly papered over the evident cracks in Lopetegui's team selections and style of football.

Being put to the sword by Liverpool is further evidence that Lopetegui needs to make wholesale changes to get his side firing, otherwise he could risk being out of a job before he's off those crutches.

In other West Ham news, Stuart Pearce spotted an incident in the first half at Anfield which set the tone for the rest of the match.

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