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West Ham have been given a huge hint on how to get the better of Wolves on Monday night by Gary O’Neil.
Before a ball was kicked this season, a Monday night meeting between West Ham and Wolves at the London Stadium may not have been earmarked as one of the Premier League's biggest games of the season.
All of a sudden, two managers' jobs are on the line as Julen Lopetegui welcomes Gary O'Neil to London next week. The Hammers sit 14th in the table but have endured a frustrating season of inconsistency, any promise from a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at St James' Park late last month forgotten after 5-2 and 3-1 defeats to Arsenal and Leicester City.
The picture is even more worrying at Molineux for O'Neil. Wolves are 19th in the division with just two wins to their name this season and were hammered 4-0 by Everton on Wednesday night, making it eight goals conceded in their last two.
Should both Lopetegui and O'Neil still be in their posts come Monday night, with West Ham holding crisis talks this week, it seems increasingly likely that the losing manager could be given their marching orders by club chiefs. That makes the visit of his former club a make-or-break fixture for the Hammers head coach.
Gary O’Neil explains how Wolves were beaten 4-0 by Everton
Lopetegui will spend what remains of this week preparing his side for the match but has been given a huge clue as to how Wolves can be beaten by his opposite number. O'Neil poured scorn on his side's performance at Goodison Park on Wednesday night, hinting that West Ham simply need to do the basics right on Monday to pick up all three points.
He said: “Everton didn’t do anything complicated as you all saw, it was all direct stuff, real low risk. A group of players winning duels, winning second balls, and we have to find a way to be able to compete with stuff like that.
“It was basic stuff. We can’t even get the wall in the right place. We weren’t able to cope with Everton’s physicality, long balls, balls into the box, we were just unable to cope. There’s an awful lot of work to be done to give the group a better chance in games coming forward to try and give them a platform to have a chance.
“As I’ve said a million times, the other stuff is irrelevant because we’re giving away so many goals from situations that are fairly basic. Bournemouth are a pressing team, and we can’t cope with that; Everton are a physical team, and we can’t cope with that, so there’s an awful lot that we need to get into to try and give this team more of a chance on a consistent basis."
Wolves were thumped by Everton in midweek action.Wolves were thumped by Everton in midweek action.
Wolves were thumped by Everton in midweek action. | Getty Images
The midweek defeat to Everton was made particularly painful for Wolves with two of the Merseyside club's four goals coming courtesy of Craig Dawson own goals. Ashley Young found the opening through a free kick from long distance and Orel Mangala added the second following a sloppily dealt with free kick before the self-inflicted damage.
O'Neil added: “We couldn’t cope with their physicality. They had people in the right spots and we were unable to compete in the duels. The corner straight after half-time is only two yards out, they get the contact to give Everton the first goal when they’re struggling for confidence and scoring, so to be able to kick it straight into the goal, around the wall, well yeah, you don’t see that too often. Similar to the goals against Bournemouth, you don’t see those too often either.
“It’s real tough, but the focus has to turn quickly to try and give the team the best chance on Monday. We get back to work straight away, instantly, as soon as I’ve finished this press conference, to being able to fight again on Monday, because that’s where I need to get to with the group.
“Forever reason, at this moment, we cannot get this group to compete consistently against that sort of test. We have to find a way to give the group a better chance at West Ham on Monday.”
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Julen Lopetegui aware of West Ham positives
Those words will be a boost for the hosts ahead of Monday night. While the results simply haven't been there for Lopetegui, there have been signs of effort from his men.
West Ham had 31 shots at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday and the recent performance against Newcastle United did show a mettle somewhere deep down. Speaking after the Leicester City match, Lopetegui said: "It’s not easy, because we deserved much more. We had 31 shots, many, many chances and we didn’t score.
"We have to do better and avoid this stat. We had to take more risks in the second half and a good team will take advantage of this. We have to be more effective as normally when you are able to create this number of chances you are going to score one.
"We are very frustrated for the fans and players because they didn’t deserve to lose. But we [lost] and we have to recover. The energy and belief for the next challenge is knowing this is the way to be able to change the situation."
The pressure is on Julen Lopetegui.The pressure is on Julen Lopetegui.
The pressure is on Julen Lopetegui. | Getty Images
Against Newcastle United, West Ham covered the second most distance of any team in the Premier League that week in a gut-busting performance that Lopetegui will be demanding under the lights at the London Stadium on Monday night.
He said: "You have to run. If you are to win you have to run a lot. I always demand them to run and to play. This is the two things. It is good.
"We are happy. I think that we played well. We played with one identity and we were able to overcome a very good team. They started well and it is always good to have more confidence. They had two chances and I think that in the second half, we did well and deserved to win."
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