Richard Keys drops sarcastic David Moyes claim on Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United failure
Richard Keys has reacted to West Ham losing their first three homes games for the first time ever by suggesting he saw it coming if David Moyes was sacked.
The host wrote on his 23 September blog that the Irons were “very poor” against Chelsea as they were beaten 3-0 two days earlier as the London Stadium emptied out long before the final whistle, albeit with a controversial penalty decision going against them [Keith Hackett, 22 September].
And with Julen Lopetegui struggling early in his reign Keys sarcastically highlighted Moyes’ record in charge, and indicated he had warned this could happen.
He wrote: “Interesting times at West Ham eh? For the first time in their history they’ve lost their first three homes games. They were poor – very poor – against Chelsea and fans were leaving the Taxpayers Stadium long before the end.
“I read Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian Saturday morning referencing the ‘style revolution’ that’s supposed to be happening at West Ham. ‘It’s moving slowly’, he wrote. Adding ‘West Ham look no less dowdy after swapping David Moyes for Julen Lopetegui’.
“Is that the David Moyes who picked the Hammers up when they were in the drop zone – took them to a sixth-place and seventh-place finish and delivered a European trophy? How many times have we said ‘be careful what you wish for’?”
Chelsea loss hands West Ham unwanted home record
In Keys’ smugness about Moyes he seems to have overlooked the fact that last season the Scot’s Irons were hardly on fire either.
It was always going to be the risk with changing the manager that things could get worse as well as better depending on who came in next, as it is with any switch in the dug out, but something needed to change.
There’s no getting away from the fact that the new era has not started how anyone would have hoped, not least after a transfer window of heavy recruitment raised hopes further, and it may be that Lopetegui was a poor choice.
Whether Tim Steidten bought the wrong players or the Spaniard is failing to put them together properly will be a question for the board to deal with with increasing urgency if performances don’t pick up.
But since the technical director quickly rose to a position of major prominence under David Sullivan after arriving a year ago [Claret & Hugh, 21 January] it would be a surprise if he was the one to carry the can out of the two.
However, Steidten is arguably exposed to criticism all the more now that he has outlasted the old-fashioned Moyes methods if his signings don’t click.
He has a lot of credit in the bank for the work he did in securing Mohammed Kudus from Ajax [Fabrizio Romano] but the likes of Konstantinos Mavropanos have proven disappointing.
On paper there was a lot to like about the the summer haul and it may just be growing pains that West Ham haven’t hit the ground running, but the situation is already looking uncomfortable.
In other West Ham news, Sullivan and Karren Brady have made one ex-Irons player think Lopetegui is already under huge pressure.
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