Julen Lopetegui is back under immense pressure at West Ham after the ridiculous 5-2 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday night.
The Hammers put in yet another embarrassing performance against a rival to lose heavily.
West Ham and Arsenal are meant to be London rivals.
But Julen Lopetegui’s fragile side barely laid a glove on the Gunners.
They paid the price too, going 4-0 down inside 36 minutes thanks to some of the most pathetic defending you will see in the Premier League this season.
West Ham pulled off a shock win at Newcastle on Monday night which saved Lopetegui from the sack.
All eyes were on whether that was a turning point for the Hammers under the Spaniard.
The answer was there for all to see at the London Stadium against Arsenal.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
Few expected the Irons to get anything from the game.
But there are ways and means of losing, especially to a so-called rival.
And West Ham yet again rolled over and had their bellies tickled.
Just as they have done far too many times under Lopetegui with unacceptably bad collapses against Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Forest and now Arsenal.
Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Max Kilman of West Ham United during the Premier League match between West H...
Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Shocked Murphy rips into failing Lopetegui’s West Ham negligence
There is a worrying lack of character, personality and resilience in West Ham’s team.
As a result Lopetegui simply must be under pressure again heading to Leicester on Tuesday night.
The Hammers boss trots out the same banal lines after every defeat.
West Ham fans have left en masse way before the final whistle in SEVEN of his 15 games in charge.
That unprecedented fact shows how they feel about Lopetegui and his team.
Now a Match of the Day pundit has said how he feels about them.
Shocked Danny Murphy has ripped into failing Lopetegui over his West Ham negligence.
Murphy says the defeat was more about how bad West Ham are than how good Arsenal are.
“Arsenal are confident, playing with a strut again, their creative players bang at it,” Murphy said on MOTD.
“But I was really shocked how easy West Ham made it for them by basically not doing the fundamentals right.
“The real basics of football they struggled with.”
Murphy highlighted West Ham’s awful marking from the corner which gave Arsenal the lead, picking out Michail Antonio and Max Kilman for criticism.
“Communication, basics, not winning second balls, the drop down balls – all the normal things (you have to do to compete).”
Murphy was baffled that Bukayo Saka, one of the best left-footed players in the Premier League, was continually allowed to cut in on his left foot.
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
‘Hammers don’t do the fundamentals under Lopetegui’
He highlighted one moment where awful Emerson Palmieri was not even within 10 yards of Saka inside the box as he went close to just bending the ball in for another goal.
“No-one near him within 10 yards, it’s unbelievable,” Murphy adds.
“Surely they’ve worked on that? Left-back against right winger, do something wonderful to beat me. What does he do? Give and go, doesn’t track a run, (Martin) Odegaard in oceans – the most dangerous player on the pitch. Do that and what’s going to happen? He’s going to find Saka – course he does.
“And then (Leandro) Trossard runs off the back of (Aaron) Wan-Bissaka (for a tap in).
“These are the fundamentals, winning duels, closing down space, tracking runs, being competitive against a good side.
“Now Arsenal did play well but some of those goals aren’t difficult to stop. Concentration, preparation for West Ham non-existent compared to Monday night against Newcastle.”
This is damning of Lopetegui and his sorry shambles of a team.
Murphy is absolutely right in everything he says.
Newcastle was clearly a one-off and West Ham’s season is already petering out into nothingness.
Related Posts