Julen Lopetegui risks losing all faith after ‘odd’ West Ham United decision v Brentford
Julen Lopetegui already has his back up against the wall following his first eight matches in charge at West Ham.
The Hammers have won just two games under the Spaniard’s leadership so far, including an EFL Cup victory against Bournemouth, seeing them sink to fourteenth in the Premier League table.
Now without a win in five matches, including disappointing 3-0 and 5-1 defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool, respectively, Lopetegui’s job already looks to be at risk after replacing David Moyes this summer.
If fans at the London Stadium hadn’t turned their backs on the new manager already, they would have been much more likely to now after his half-time decision during the 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday 28 September.
In what was described as an “odd” choice [London World, 28 September], bright spark Mohammed Kudus was replaced during the break by Carlos Soler, removing one of the most dangerous players from the pitch.
Julen Lopetegui hooks Mohammed Kudus at HT in West Ham United v Brentford
Lopetegui confirmed the decision was made for tactical reasons, rather than the player suffering an injury during the first half, which makes the substitution all the most baffling.
After going one-nil down to the Bees after just a matter of seconds, with Bryan Mbeumo scoring from kick-off once again, Kudus was one of the brightest sparks for the Hammers.
While some fans have raised concerns over the 24-year-old’s performances so far this season, having yet to score or assist in the league, he looked destined to hit the back of the net at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The winger unleashed multiple shots at Mark Flekken’s goal, making up one of the team’s three shots on goal [FotMob], and caused havoc down the left flank with his pace and trickery on the ball.
Something certainly needed to change at the half-time break, but Lopetegui has put even more unnecessary pressure after hooking the Ghanaian following a decent first 45 minutes.
Even with that risk, at least a point was saved.
In other West Ham news, one pundit drooled over a “wonderful” moment from a Hammers star v Brentford.
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