West Ham badge, Julen Lopetegui
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui (credit: Imago)
Carla Devine
Tue 24 December 2024 18:40, UK
Julen Lopetegui’s arrival in the summer gave supporters hope of a new era at The London Stadium following gripes with David Moyes over the style of football.
However, things have not gone to plan since then and the Spaniard has had a slow start to life in East London which has led to plenty of discussions surrounding his future at the club.
Ahead of the game against Wolves, it was said that the losing manager would lose their job and despite him coming out on top, discussions were continuing behind the scenes on if he had a future as manager.
The Hammers are slowly picking themselves up this season and find themselves in what could be a season-defining period as they sit eight points away from the top six and the same away from the relegation zone.
With the January transfer window around the corner, the manager will be hoping he can make the necessary additions to push his side forward to where they need to be.
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Julen Lopetegui has to beat Southampton at West Ham
The boss will be well aware that there is plenty of work to be done before he can breathe at the London Stadium which provides him with the drive he needs to improve his side and bring success to the club.
However, the continuous comments from pundits suggest that as soon as the Hammers lose a game, there will be discussions over the manager again which doesn’t make it particularly easy for the team to progress with all the outside noise.
West Ham
The Irons need to beat Southampton otherwise questions will be raised about the side’s inconsistency.
However, after that game, a test against Liverpool lies and as long as they don’t get demolished, the boss can’t be judged too harshly on a loss against them.
If the Irons can continue to push themselves closer to European football than relegation though then the discussions surrounding Lopetegui have to come to an end for now otherwise there have to be questions asked of what West Ham’s serious ambitions are this term.
In other West Ham news, one star was hailed as “absolutely brilliant” on Sky Sports after what he did against Brighton.
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