Julen Lopetegui ‘peril’ shared at West Ham United after Everton stalemate
Mark Scott believes the performance West Ham United put in at the London Stadium against Everton in their 0-0 draw on Saturday didn’t help the “peril” Julen Lopetegui finds himself in.
The two sides faced off in the Premier League and if it wasn’t for an outstanding 93rd-minute save by Jordan Pickford, the Hammers would have likely taken all three points.
Despite this, BBC reporter Scott doesn’t think the Hammers’ performance did much to “quell the whispers” about the future of Lopetegui.
“This was a truly dire game that really reflected the apathy around West Ham at the moment,” he wrote via the BBC Sport website (11 November).
“The first half felt like an example of what many have been saying about the Hammers’ lack of identity under Julen Lopetegui, who also appeared to struggle to get his messages across to the players in-game from the dugout, as he frantically called for more urgency.
“While there was an improvement in that aspect after the break, I do not think it was the kind of performance that will quell the whispers about his position being in a fair amount of peril.
“Based on Saturday’s struggles at home to an Everton not exactly cooking on gas themselves, the exasperation among the fans might turn to worry with games against Newcastle and Arsenal coming next”.
Julen Lopetegui hasn’t likely got much time to save his West Ham United job
Lopetegui’s future has been brought into question during an indifferent start to life at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were one of the teams expected to be challenging for the European places but instead, they’ve almost found themselves dragged into a Premier League relegation battle.
West Ham were one of the biggest spenders in the summer and many thought their transfer window was a fairly positive one.
But, thanks to injuries to players such as Niclas Fullkrug and the underperformance of players such as star man Mohammed Kudus, things haven’t gone quite to plan.
They currently sit 14th in the table, just five points clear of the drop zone. There is still plenty of time left in the season to climb the table but whether Lopetegui will be afforded the time to try and reverse their fortunes remains to be seen.
The next few weeks will no doubt be essential for Lopetegui to buck his ideas up otherwise, David Sullivan could choose to end his London Stadium stint.
In other West Ham news, Julen Lopetegui was spotted raging on the sidelines in their 0-0 draw against Everton.
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