West Ham sources speak out as Tim Steidten steps away from Rush Green
Tim Steidten will leave Julen Lopetegui to turn things around at West Ham after deciding to step back from their training ground, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper reported on 6 January that the technical director has been spending less time working from his office at Rush Green, choosing to do so at the London Stadium instead.
Lopetegui and Steidten both find themselves facing criticism after a below-par first half of the season in East London, with both Steidten’s record of recruitment and Lopetegui’s tactics coming under scrutiny.
Steidten’s absence had implied a rift between himself and Lopetegui with the Irons’ results showing no improvement, but club sources said the German spending more time away is due to the transfer window.
Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui under pressure at West Ham
It’s fair to say that given their significant outlay of over £120million in the summer transfer window, the Hammers should be much higher than 14th in the Premier League table with 39 goals conceded already.
That’s the fourth-most of any side after 20 games so far this term, and given the similarly shocking record last season, any signs of progress under Lopetegui have been minuscule.
This season’s dismal defensive record – and form overall given the back-to-back thumpings by Liverpool and Manchester City – comes after almost nine figures were spent on defensive players over the summer.
Max Kilman, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Guido Rodriguez and Nice loanee Jean-Clair Todibo combined haven’t stemmed the flow of goals being conceded, a damning indictment on both Steidten and Lopetegui.
The latter’s tactical setup has been lambasted and left him on the brink of the sack several times already this term, but fans may also be losing trust in Steidten’s judgement to get the next appointment right.
In other West Ham news, transfer speculation surrounding an out-of-form player was mocked by an Irons legend on social media.
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