David Sullivan brought Julen Lopetegui to West Ham United to replace David Moyes in the summer.
The Spaniard has really struggled in his role as West Ham head coach at the London Stadium though.
Julen Lopetegui arrived in England with a reputation as a master tactician – had won the Europa League with Sevilla four years ago remember.
However saying that he has flattered to deceive is an understatement.
Lopetegui angered the Hammers fans on Saturday, when he made excuses for our 5-2 defeat to Arsenal, rather than just tell it how it was.
He has actually overseen regression at the club, which is quite the statement considering how bad we were during the second half of last season.
General view outside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Ipswich Town FC. Inset, David Sullivan, Daniel Kretinsky, Tim Steidten, and Julen Lopetegui.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
The Spaniard’s style of football has been incredibly dull to watch, whilst his treatment of certain players like Crysencio Summerville has been questionable to say the least.
Monday’s impressive win over Newcastle now looks like nothing more than a one-off – a false dawn if you will.
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With a game against Leicester City up next, Lopetegui needs a big performance from his players.
New Julen Lopetegui claim will infuriate West Ham fans
The Spaniard is surely walking on very thin ice right now.
The 5-2 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday evening, and more to the point the performance, was truly unacceptable.
The Hammers players need to respond and put in a really big performance against Leicester City on Tuesday night.
If West Ham lose to the Foxes, that will surely be game over for Lopetegui…or will it?
A new claim from Hammers insider Sean Whetstone suggests that that will not be the case.
Whetstone took to his X account on Sunday night to provide an update on Lopetegui’s future:
So the hapless Spaniard will be given until the end of the year to prove himself?
By then we could easily be inside the bottom three. David Sullivan is playing a dangerous game it seems…
Lopetegui has performed worse than Moyes at West Ham
The Hammers have performed terribly this season.
We are so open defensively, despite the fact that Lopetegui signed three top-class new defenders in the summer.
Only three teams in the Premier League have conceded more than us so far this season.
How on earth have things got even worse under Lopetegui than they were under Moyes!
Julen Lopetegui, Manager of West Ham United speaks in a press conference after the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Arsenal FC a...
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
The 58-year-old Hammers boss seems to be utterly clueless from a tactical perspective, and he has no idea how to organise a central midfield unit.
West Ham have been so open in the middle of the park, with good teams cutting through us like a knife through butter.
Keeping Julen Lopetegui at West Ham longer than necessary will be a big mistake from David Sullivan.
Why not just sack him now and move on with a proper manager – we’d be much better off come January, I’m sure of it.
The claim that the Spaniard is set to remain in charge until at least the end of the year is a frustrating one.
However, if we pick up a couple of wins against Leicester and Wolves, the narrative could well turn very quickly at the London Stadium.
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