Door opens for West Ham’s European hopes but Bournemouth is must stumbling block. The door is open again for West Ham’s European hopes after results this weekend but one thing is clear, Bournemouth is a must win.
Julen Lopetegui somehow remains West Ham’s manager. But he’s been told he had to beat Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton after that defeat at Leicester.
Lopetegui was extremely fortunate to edge out old club Wolves 2-1 on Monday night. So the Spaniard is clinging on at West Ham going into the trip to the Vitality.
Hammers fans have been calling for his head and many are totally unconvinced he is the right man to take the club forward. West Ham have very much arrived at a crossroads as they go to the south coast.
Not just over Lopetegui’s future but for the club’s entire Premier League season. West Ham are sitting in a hugely disappointing 14th place in the Premier League table after 15 games with just five wins to their name.
Given Lopetegui was tasked with competing for a European place, that is damning so far.
Hammers fans absolutely loved their three seasons of European adventures, the highlight of which was that unforgettable Europa Conference League triumph last year sandwiched by a Europa League semi-final and quarter-final.
Door opens for West Ham’s European hopes
As revealed on Hammers News a couple of weeks ago, this is officially the most wide open Premier League for 12 years.
So while West Ham and Lopetegui have had a dreadful start, there is still a glimmer of hope the season can be saved.
The door has opened for West Ham’s European hopes but Bournemouth is a must win.
Results elsewhere this weekend mean eight teams are now separated by just three points. West Ham cannot actually move up a place with a win at Bournemouth.
But it has become perfectly clear that the clash with the Cherries is now an absolute must-win if the Hammers have any designs of pushing themselves into the European mix as we enter the second half of the campaign.
West Ham are clearly in no danger of being relegated. Nor should that even be a sentence this season after a £155m summer spend.
As a result of it being such an open field, the points needed to qualify for the Europa Conference League – which may go down to seventh place again – could be as low as 55.
It means West Ham need around 12 wins – or the equivalent points – from their remaining 23 matches.
Bournemouth is must win as Hammers stand at crossroads. Victory over Bournemouth would put West Ham on 21 points. This is where it gets very interesting indeed.
Because while that would still leave the Hammers in 14th place, they would then be just three points off their Monday night opponents, who sit in seventh.
And only four off sixth-placed Aston Villa.
With the board expecting Lopetegui to win against Brighton and Southampton too, a haul of nine points could put West Ham right back into the European mix.
West Ham could go three points off seventh
Wishful thinking perhaps given the team performed even worse against Wolves than they did in defeat at Leicester.
But it’s what has to happen for Lopetegui to save his job and breathe life into the campaign.
If the former Spain boss doesn’t manage it then he can have no complaints about being shown the door.
A change of manager will be the only hope of turning things around.
The big question then – if West Ham do rack up those four wins from Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton and Southampton – is can Lopetegui start to pick up positive results against top sides such as Liverpool and Man City to come afterwards?
Monday night Holds the key. Win and West Ham are back in the hunt.
