Brazilian star turned manager who played for ‘boring’ Julen Lopetegui has explained why there is player unrest at West Ham.
Julen Lopetegui is once again sweating on his job as West Ham manager. The Spaniard has only been in the job for 12 competitive games. But many Hammers fans have already seen enough.
West Ham are 14th in the Premier League table with just three wins from their opening 10 games.
They advanced in the League Cup against Bournemouth only to be battered 5-1 at Liverpool in the next round – just like last season.
It is not lost on West Ham fans or the owners that the team has been extremely fortunate in three of their four wins. The opposition could and should have been home and hosed in the games against Palace, Bournemouth and Man United.
When polled by a top Hammers insider, fans made it clear they have little confidence in Lopetegui to turn things around. Besides poor performances, results and a lack of identity, claims of player unrest have perhaps been most worrying.
Brazilian who played for Lopetegui says he is ‘uninspiring’
A journalist claimed recently that a number of Hammers stars were ‘unconvinced’ by the manager. After the fortunate win over Man United, Jarrod Bowen appeared to confirm that was the case. The skipper revealed he had addressed players about the claims in the changing room.
West Ham’s most senior player Lukasz Fabianski then made a damning claim about the approach to training a lack of leadership following the 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
That has turned the heat up on the Hammers’ head coach once again. It is being claimed two managers have been put on standby to replace Lopetegui.
The pressure is on ahead of the game against Everton.
Now one of Lopetegui’s former players has stuck the knife in. Former attacking midfield ace Evandro, who played under Lopetegui at Porto, is a manager himself nowadays as the coach of Atlético Paranaense’s under-13s.
Evandro, who also played for Hull City for three years, has been speaking about Lopetegui in light of speculation over his West Ham future.
And what he’s had to say is not good at all.
Evandro says ‘boring’ Lopetegui was not rated by Porto stars. Evandro says he got on well with Lopetegui on a personal level.
But he states the Hammers boss left ‘no mark’ on him, was uninspiring, wasn’t rated by Porto’s players, put on boring training sessions and implemented a passive playing style none of them liked.
“I didn’t like the way he proposed our team play and the day-to-day routine,” Evandro told Premier League Brasil.
“It’s obvious that he’s a high level manager and has qualities, but from my point of view, I wasn’t enthusiastic about him, he didn’t make an impression on me. He really believed in me, I was always the first option off the bench, my relationship with him was always very good.
“There were a lot of passes backwards and to the side, and it wasn’t aggressive.
“Maybe that might work at another club, but it didn’t work in those two seasons. In training and in games, we weren’t excited.”
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Evandro has echoed how West Ham fans feel watching their side let alone the players.
It’s clear Hammers players are frustrated. The likes of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez have all showed anger towards Lopetegui publicly. Indiscipline in a team is always a sign a manager is struggling to garner respect.
Alvarez has been sent off twice already this season and Kudus too after his complete head loss at Spurs. At his lowest ebb, Lopetegui has found an unlikely ally, though.
None other than the man he replaced – David Moyes. Moyes has sent a message to David Sullivan about Lopetegui and it makes for interesting reading.
