Julen Lopetegui sack verdict shared by ex-West Ham United boss as problem raised
Alan Pardew expressed that he doesn’t want West Ham United to sack Julen Lopetegui while at the same time lambasting the Irons defensive lineup.
Pressure is still growing on Lopetegui with the sack rumours persisting after West Ham were embarrassed 5-0 on home soil by Liverpool.
Konstantinos Mavropanos baffled Gabby Agbonlahor with his performance, while Pardew was concerned with the entire defensive line when discussing the game live on talkSPORT (29 December, 8:45 pm).
“I’m not asking for this manager to get sacked,” explained Pardew. “I just look at the squad at the moment and how they’ve recruited, they’ve made errors, particularly in getting that back four right.
“The back four is not right. It’s all over the place. And it just looks like four individuals sort of trying to defend rather than a unit that’s working in unison and putting cover on each other and helping each other. That I think is where their problem is.”
West Ham have a bigger concern going forward
While Pardew isn’t out of order to raise a concern over the Hammers’ defensive line, their attacking line is arguably the one that is a greater cause of concern.
Niclas Fullkrug was the big-money signing in January and he has flopped massively since arriving at the London Stadium, leaving the Hammers with little quality in the final third.
Jarrod Bowen has had to carry the burden of scoring goals on his back and the lack of a goalscoring striker has seen him utilised in a central role on far too many occasions when his biggest strengths are showcased out wide.
If we have it straight, the entire club is a bit of a mess at the moment but the majority of that lies down to the management, or lack of, from Lopetegui.
If West Ham want to progress, they need to cut their losses and accept that the Lopetegui experiment was a failed one.
In other West Ham news, one player could be set to be handed a ban by the FA.
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