Julen Lopetegui manager of West Ham
Julen Lopetegui manager of West Ham (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui has been granted a reprieve despite the pressure mounting over his future at the club. The Hammers' top brass are reportedly backing him to lead the team in the pivotal match against Wolves on Monday night.
Despite a disappointing start to the season and a hefty £120m investment in new players last summer, Lopetegui is fighting to secure his position. While West Ham have considered alternatives, with former Spain and Real Madrid boss Lopetegui's job seemingly safe for now due to a lack of clear successors.
Names such as Graham Potter, previously with Chelsea and Brighton, and Porto's Sergio Conceicao, along with former Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic, have surfaced as potential candidates. Potter, currently without a club after his departure from Chelsea, is said to be open to a Premier League comeback.
Nonetheless, West Ham are keen to give Lopetegui every chance to turn things around, having appointed him just half a year ago. With the threat of relegation looming, the result of the upcoming Wolves fixture could be decisive for Lopetegui's tenure.
Following a board meeting on Thursday, it appears the decision has been made to support Lopetegui for the time being, even as some fans have expressed their discontent, notably voicing "You're getting sacked in the morning" during the recent loss at Leicester, reports the Mirror.
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who came on board with a glittering CV making him an impressive catch for the Hammers and raising hopes he'd steer them back to European competition, is enduring a rough patch. He reportedly clashed with Jean-Clair Todibo in the changing room after their recent loss to Arsenal and faced increasing scrutiny following a disheartening loss to Leicester City.
Yet, Lopetegui remains determined on his role at the club, stating to BBC Sport: "The only thing I am worried about now is to go in on Wednesday for the training session and to prepare for the next challenge. We have one month of a lot of matches and I'm sure with this attitude we will achieve much more points. Today it's hard to say this," adding, "There are days when it is easy, today it was not easy. We are very frustrated but because we deserved much more. It's not easy, because we deserved much more. We had 31 shots, many, many chances and we didn't score."
Lopetegui went on to acknowledge the need for efficiency, saying, "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."