Tony Cottee blasts Julen Lopetegui amid West Ham sack decision – ‘Horrible’
Tony Cottee has blasted Julen Lopetegui’s tenure at West Ham amid pressure on the manager after a poor run of form.
The Spaniard was chosen as David Moyes replacement in the summer with the hope that he could have the Hammers playing a nicer style of football while being well clear of any threat of relegation.
However, halfway into his first season and on the back of a 5-0 loss against Liverpool, the 58-year-old has his side sitting 13th in the table, six points above the relegation zone and eight points from the top six.
Speaking on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show (3 January, 8:55am), the Irons legend did not hold back in his analysis of the boss as he said: “I think it’s fair to say most of the fans didn’t want Lopetegui in the first place.
“It’s just been inconsistent, you mentioned it Alan [Brazil] and you know, they’ve had a couple of good performances but in general I think the games I’ve been to, I’m a season ticket holder I’ve been to all the home games and it’s just been poor and against Liverpool we all know it’s a fantastic Liverpool team but just tactically all over the place.
“You’ve got right-backs playing at left-back then you go three at the back, then they’re putting defenders on when you’re losing 2-0 and just little tactical things that I think the fans are moaning about and going into this game against Man City, you just get that horrible feeling that Man City are going to get back to form against West Ham.”
Cottee continued to say: “There were high hopes at the start of the season, a lot of money was spent. Not spent wisely a lot of it in my opinion and you know, that’s why the locals are grumbling.
“There’s something not right at the moment.”
Julen Lopetegui on thin ice at West Ham
As Cottee said, one word that has to be used to sum up Lopetegui’s tenure at The London Stadium so far has to be inconsistent with the Hammers failing to build any momentum from one week to another.
While Liverpool are a side in excellent form this term, the performance against the Reds was miles off from West Ham and both the manager and players looked a bit lost during the game with little idea of how to change things.
The Spaniard was backed by David Sullivan in the summer to allow him to bring his own players to the club and despite some great signings on paper, the majority of these have been underwhelming in action suggesting there is an issue at The London Stadium.
The supporters are not being served anything better than they were getting prior to the manager’s arrival in the summer and it does leave the question of whether Lopetegui is going to be capable of transforming the Irons this term or if a change will be better for all parties.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are believed to have been offered a star wanted by Aston Villa.
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