Julen Lopetegui torn into live on air for ‘bizarre’ West Ham United decision
Danny Murphy has torn into Julen Lopetegui for a “bizarre” decision in West Ham United’s defeat to Chelsea.
The Hammers’ poor start to the Premier League season continued with a disappointing 3-0 loss at the hands of Enzo Mareca’s side on Saturday (21 September) at the London Stadium.
While some of the players have been slammed for their displays, talkSPORT pundit Murphy has laid 90 per cent of the blame at Lopetegui’s door, after the Irons boss decided to change his tactical system.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday (23 September, 21:08) he said: “I think sometimes players are to blame, sometimes it’s both.
“This one 90 per cent manager’s blame because he set them up in a way that they weren’t comfortable with and they didn’t look comfortable with what they were doing.
“Sometimes it looks like a lack of effort, but it’s not. It’s a complete lack of understanding of what they’re trying to do.
“It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen this season, probably last [season] as well.”
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It is unclear why Lopetegui felt a change of system would benefit the Hammers on Saturday. Edson Alvarez looked all at sea in the centre of defence and the Irons’ midfield was overrun as he manmarked Nicolas Jackon.
By the time the former Wolves manager had woken up and decided to change the tactical set-up, the game was already lost. That sort of tactical naivety is simply not acceptable from a manager with so much experience.
Of course, some of the blame does have to lie with the players as they have failed to grasp the system that the manager had selected, but the buck has and always will ultimately stop with the manager.
Hopefully, that is the last West Ham supporters see of Lopetegui’s three-at-the-back experiment. The manager will be slammed if he decides to try and play the same way in the Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool.
The Irons have incredible attacking players in their ranks, it’s about time a manager got the best out of them.
In other West Ham news, Brendan Rodgers’ stance on a Celtic exit has been predicted after a move to the London Stadium was mooted
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