Lucas Paqueta and Julen Lopetegui rift spotted at West Ham United
Jeff Stelling has mooted another possible Julen Lopetegui issue with Lucas Paqueta after West Ham United’s 2-1 win over Wolves.
Speaking on talkSPORT (10 December, 7:13am), Stelling asked Alvin Martin if he thought a rift had developed between Lopetegui and Paqueta given their lack of communication on the sidelines.
Brought off the bench in the 64th minute, Paqueta wasn’t spoken to by Lopetegui before replacing Carlos Soler, with Stelling suggesting that this could be a sign of a further problem between the two.
Stelling asked: “Do you think there’s an issue between Julen Lopetegui and Lucas Paqueta at the moment?
“Not only is he not starting, I noticed that when he brought him on as a substitute last night, Lopetegui didn’t acknowledge him at all, he stood right at the end of the technical area, as far away from Paqueta as he possibly could.
“Didn’t speak to him, no pat on the back, nothing like that – when they made other substitutions, he had a word with the subs as they were coming on, but no communication with Paqueta at all.”
Julen Lopetegui continues to burn bridges at West Ham United
If Lopetegui and Paqueta have indeed had a fallout and currently aren’t on speaking terms, the Brazilian will join the growing list of Irons players whom the manager has failed to see eye-to-eye with.
Mohammed Kudus’ frustrations – not helped by clashes with Lopetegui in the dressing room – boiled over against Tottenham in October, with the Ghanaian picking up a five-match ban for violent conduct.
More recently, Lopetegui and on-loan defender Jean-Clair Todibo argued at half-time of the Irons’ 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal, with the French centre-back yet to be seen in a starting lineup since.
Kudus, Todibo and new £27million signing Niclas Fullkrug are just three of the players disillusioned with Lopetegui’s management, to the extent that all three are pushing for the exit door if he stays in a job [GiveMeSport, 6 December].
Paqueta joining that revolt looks unlikely given both his poor form and impending FA betting charges, but with Lopetegui making more enemies than friends in East London, his cards are fast becoming marked.
In other West Ham news, Jim White shared what he’d been told about Michail Antonio after being involved in a car accident.
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