West Ham United drew 1-1 with Fulham in the Premier League at Craven Cottage yesterday afternoon.
Julen Lopetegui received plenty of criticism from the West Ham fans throughout the game, but he was rescued in the end by a last-minute Danny Ings equaliser.
In all fairness, the Hammers were extremely fortunate to pick up a point away at Fulham today. They were the better team in every department, especially during the first-half.
Lopetegui named a truly baffling starting XI, and the majority of West Ham fans knew that his team selection was wrong as soon as it was released.
Tomas Soucek was hooked at half-time, and many people are asking why Lopetegui started the Czech midfielder in the first place?
There were some fans who were questioning whether we have actually just appointed the Spanish David Moyes!
The thing is, we all need to be patient with Lopetegui. He deserves time to show what he’s capable of – one full season at the very least in my opinion.
However, that doesn’t mean he’s immune from criticism. There’s nothing wrong with questioning decisions he has made, and the tactics that he has deployed.
There’s no point in blindly supporting someone if there’s no evidence that we’re actually heading in the right direction.
So with that in mind, I think Lopetegui did one thing in particular that we should all be hugely encouraged by.
Big positive from Fulham that many West Ham fans missed
Sure, the first-half was absolutely appalling on every level.
The players weren’t up for it, and they all just looked lost, without any kind of direction.
We all know the starting XI from Lopetegui was wrong, but his system just wasn’t working either. The middle of the park was wide open in transition, despite having two holding midfielders sitting in a double pivot.
In fact, there were numerous things that just were not working, namely Michail Antonio playing through the middle and Tomas Soucek in the number 10 role.
However, I was really pleased to see something that Lopetegui did midway through the game. It proved to me that he’s the right man for the job.
The Spaniard was ruthless at half-time, when he brought off Antonio and Soucek and replaced them with Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville.
Sure, it was the West Ham chief’s mistake to begin with that needed fixing, but at least he owned it. Too often, managers are far too stubborn, and their egos won’t allow them to make half-time substitutions because it would prove they got it wrong in the first place.
Lopetegui shows West Ham fans he’s the man for the job
We watched numerous games last season where David Moyes refused to make any changes until it was too late.
However, it was quite the opposite at Craven Cottage yesterday.
It might be a long and slow process ahead of us, but we all have to pick up the positives when we see them, and talk about them.
Because it’s those positives that will help Lopetegui and his players get through the rebuilding process, and eventually reach the promised land that awaits them.
