David Moyes will be cackling at worrying Julen Lopetegui West Ham revelation but new boss will have the last laugh. Journalists and pundits were queuing up to warn West Ham to be careful what they wish for when replacing David Moyes with Julen Lopetegui.
In the wake of West Ham’s decision to hire Julen Lopetegui as the successor to David Moyes, Hammers News asked ‘Can anybody find the Spaniard somebody to love’.
It highlighted the throng of pundits, journalists and ex West Ham stars who felt it was the wrong move. It is also fair to say a large section of Hammers fans were unconvinced by the Lopetegui appointment too.
Spanish journalist Guillem Balague was often a lone voice trying to justify the new West Ham head coach’s credentials.
Balague became increasingly exasperated at some of the cynicism and criticism surrounding the 57-year-old’s appointment by West Ham. Especially after being heavily linked with “sexier” names such as Ruben Amorim.
Moyes has many friends in the media and West Ham’s decision to part company with the Scot was greeted with almost universal condemnation among them. The Hammers were warned ad nauseum to ‘be careful what you wish for’.
Hammers News has repeatedly warned the press will be out to get Lopetegui at the first sign of any difficulty. That was already evident in pre-season. The Sun reported that fans were calling to ‘bring back Moyes’ based on a couple of comments on social media. Just three Premier League games in, Paul Merson claimed Lopetegui is already under pressure to get a tune out of his new-look Hammers team.
The Sun’s Lopetegui agenda was exposed when they made an embarrassing error as they tripped over themselves to peddle a negative narrative about him on the final whistle at Fulham.
Most West Ham fans realise they are very much a work in progress with a new boss, staff, philosophy, style and turnover of 21 players in the summer.
There is no hiding that Lopetegui’s team selection so far have caused controversy and frustration.
That was the case again when the teamsheets came out for Fulham on Saturday.
And there would undoubtedly have been some fan discontent had West Ham not salvaged a point at Craven Cottage thanks to a last gasp goal from Danny Ings.
But it’s clear West Ham’s performances must improve. Lopetegui comes in knowing he must succeed where Moyes failed – by combining style with substance.
Some feel there have been glimpses of progression with more passes and possession. Others feel there is a lack of a clear idea and gameplan and that the team is far too open defensively.
Moyes will be cackling at a worrying Lopetegui West Ham revelation but the new boss will have the last laugh. Some extremely concerning early statistics have been revealed.
And they are the kind of issues Moyes made a point of addressing first in both his spells at the club as he looked to build from a solid foundation.
It has been revealed that West Ham in the Premier League this season have:
Have the most tackled players
The stats were revealed by Hammers Hub in a post which asks: “Is there cause for concern already?”
There is no doubt those statistics clearly have to improve. West Ham will not be getting anywhere close to European football if they don’t.
It has been noted that the Hammers have ridden their luck in all five games they’ve played this season. And those stats confirm that fact.
You can just picture Moyes and the likes of Sam Allardyce looking at those figures and chortling to themselves. But they are a direct result of West Ham looking to win every single game.
Most West Ham fans came away from the 3-1 defeat to Man City feeling cautiously optimistic after what they’d seen. That’s because Lopetegui has been going out to try and win regardless of the opposition.
Things are far from perfect yet. But with a new manager, new staff, new way of playing and a turnover of 21 players who expects it to be after five games?
West Ham fans have become so used to the risk averse, defensive, low block approach that this transition to a new style leaves some feel
