Julen Lopetegui’s strange West Ham tenure has been dogged by claims of unrest behind the scenes so far.
West Ham were rapidly being engulfed by a toxic cloud of negativity until the win at Newcastle.
The London Stadium – and according to several different sources Rush Green – have not been happy places to be this season.
There has been claim and counter claim about Julen Lopetegui’s future.
Ahead of West Ham’s game at Newcastle it was being widely reported a big defeat could see him sacked.
Most damning of all was a claim made by reporter Alex Crook, though.
He stated that several West Ham players and boardroom members are ‘unconvinced’ by Lopetegui.
It remains to be seen whether West Ham’s shock 2-0 win at Newcastle was a one-off or a turning point.
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Has Lopetegui finally got his message across to the players?
Does West Ham’s expensively assembled squad suddenly want to run themselves into the ground for the Spaniard as the stats suggested on Monday night?
Jamie Carragher is one of many who have their doubts. Time will tell.
Lopetegui had a widely publicised bust-up with Mohammed Kudus at Brentford.
There have been public displays of dissent towards the manager too from Lucas Paqueta, Guido Rodriguez, Edson Alvarez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Michail Antonio.
Mohammed Kudus of West Ham United and Julen Lopetegui West Ham Head Coach during the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Ipswich To...
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
West Ham star shares what he really thinks of Lopetegui
Costly indiscipline from Alvarez and Kudus has seen the former Ajax teammates miss eight games this season as well.
That has been seen by many as evidence the players don’t respect the manager.
There are reports Rodriguez and Niclas Fullkrug regret joining and want to leave.
It’s even been claimed Alvarez will push to leave if Lopetegui remains West Ham’s manager by January.
Results during a crucial run between now and then will dictate that.
But now West Ham’s most important player has shared what he really thinks of Lopetegui after the claims of unrest.
When the Hammers nicked a very fortunate win over Man United, captain Jarrod Bowen candidly revealed he addressed the talk of unrest when the players were gathered in the dressing after the game.
Now Bowen has spoken out again ahead of the Arsenal clash.
It is being claimed that Lopetegui’s future will still be in question if Newcastle proves a false dawn.
Julen Lopetegui, manager of West Ham United, during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and West Ham United FC at St James' Park ...
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Bowen insists he believes in Hammers boss
But Bowen is adamant the players believe the 58-year-old is a fine manager.
Amid talk of unrest and false dawns, Bowen insists the team is determined to show the penny has dropped.
“We have a massive game on Saturday against Arsenal, and we need to be consistently winning games on the bounce,” Bowen told the West Ham website.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game as they’re a top side, but we can take a lot away from the Newcastle game, and we’re at home, so we can use that to our advantage with our fans and put in another strong performance.
“That [Newcastle win] was more like the level of what it takes to play for this Club. The desire and work-rate from everyone was excellent…
“It was a really big moment, and the result is a really big turning point in our season…
“We have been disappointed with our start. We have to take responsibility and do our work, and we haven’t done that to a high enough ability this season. I said before the game on Monday we needed a performance, and I think we did that, and we will be looking for another on Saturday…
“The team has been improved, and those are our standards and what we feel like we can get to. We’ve got a very good side, a very good manager and a hard-working side that want to achieve things.
“We haven’t been to those levels, but it is not for the want of trying. Qualifying for Europe should be the benchmark.”
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