Julen Lopetegui insists West Ham United were in a good position when he was shown the exit door in January.
Since leaving West Ham, he was without a job until Qatar appointed him as their head coach in May. Earlier this month, the 59-year-old guided the country to the 2026 World Cup.
[Marca](https://www.marca.com/futbol/2025/10/31/lopetegui-marca-qatar-espana-mundial-habria-competir.html) have published a detailed interview with the former West Ham boss to discuss his life in Qatar and his past spells.
The Spaniard’s compatriots, Félix Sánchez Tintín Márquez, won the Asian Cup with Qatar in 2019 and 2023 respectively. When asked about their achievements, Lopetegui talked about his time in England with Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham.
He used the Hammers’ current situation to point out they weren’t bad under his orders. The London club are currently 19th in the table.
_“At West Ham, when we left, we were in 13th place, not too bad considering what happened later \[West Ham is second to last in the current Premier League\]; and in Qatar there is the qualification for 2026,”_ he said.
When asked whether there’s a thorn in his side over his time in the Premier League with Wolves and West Ham, Lopetegui explained: _“It depends on how you look at it.”_
The newspaper immediately pressed him about his departure from the London club.
West Ham appointed Lopetegui as their manager in July 2024 and parted ways with him in January. Lopetegui managed seven wins and five draws from 22 matches during his time with the Hammers.
_“But when we left, we weren’t doing so badly,”_ he added.
_“There were high expectations for that team, and we were 13th, with a better points average than the following season. Sometimes, club expectations are unrealistic, and we were doing some very interesting work for the future._
_“The goal was to be in the top 10, and we were three points away from that, and we still had the winter transfer window to go. The team didn’t improve, and now we’re in the situation we’re in.”_