Julen Lopetegui has endured a horror start since taking over at West Ham United back in the summer.
Without being too harsh, Julen Lopetegui has underperformed in every single metric, and the West Ham fans have seemingly already lost patience with him.
The Hammers news West Ham player ratings from the game against Brighton highlighted how underwhelming the performance was as a whole.
Lopetegui is very much a man under pressure right now, and it has been claimed that the Hammers owners are lining up the likes of Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri to replace him.
One huge bright spark amidst all the doom and gloom this season has been some of our highly talented youngsters getting some minutes.
Manager Julen Lopetegui gestures during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion at the London Stadium in Stra...
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Ollie Scarles and Kaelan Casey have been brought on by Lopetegui in the last two games.
Scarles was actually given 34 minutes by Lopetegui against Bournemouth and Brighton combined.
So why has the West Ham coach started using our academy stars all of a sudden?
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Real reason Julen Lopetegui is giving West Ham youth players minutes
The Hammers are currently in the midst of a really tough run.
There have been smatterings of positive signs but in general, West Ham have been terribly poor throughout the entire season.
One big positive is the fact that we’ve seen Scarles and Casey get some minutes in recent weeks.
So why the sudden change from Lopetegui regarding his trust in youth?
In my eyes, the answer is obvious.
Lopetegui knows full well that the quality of football and results haven’t been anywhere near good enough this season.
The Spaniard is also fully aware that he’s been in the job for nearly six months now. That’s more than enough time to leave your own personal imprint on a team.
And the 58-year-old is trying to buy himself more time by getting the fans onside.
What’s one sure-fire way to make the Hammers fans happy? Involving youth-team academy graduates in first-team games.
As good as Ollie Scarles is, it’s questionable as to whether he’s ready to be playing Premier League football.
West Ham United's Oliver Scarles and Bournemouth's David Brooks during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United FC at V...
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
The same can be said for Kaelan Casey who got a late run out against Bournemouth.
Lopetegui’s trust in youth is extremely transparent
I truly believe that giving youngsters from the academy of football minutes is the last throw of the dice by Julen Lopetegui at West Ham.
There’s no way that a pragmatist like Lopetegui would be giving minutes to teenagers if we were sitting inside the top seven or eight in the league table.
It just wouldn’t happen.
The Spaniard knows that he’s a man under real pressure. And if we’re not winning against Southampton on Boxing Day with 30 minutes remaining, I won’t be surprised one little bit to see the Hammers head coach throw on a couple of teenagers.
It’s obvious to me what Julen Lopetegui is doing – he’s trying to buy himself more time at West Ham.
I can’t help but feel that that time is borrowed though, and if we don’t get a bare minimum of three points from our next two Premier League games, the Spaniard may well be moved on.
A vitally important week ahead for Lopetegui and his players, for sure.
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