Lopetegui sack latest: ‘major’ development as West Ham close in on abysmal record held by Newcastle
Julen Lopetegui is yet again ‘under major internal scrutiny’ at West Ham as they seem destined to break a dreadful Premier League record held by Newcastle.
West Ham were beaten 3-1 by Leicester in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge of the Foxes, having 31 shots but falling behind to an early Jamie Vardy goal and only scoring their consolation through Niclas Fullkrug in the third minute of second-half stoppage-time.
It was Lopetegui’s eighth defeat in 16 games since taking over from David Moyes in the summer and his exit seems inevitable.
West Ham took the frankly pathetic decision to give Lopetegui two more games to save his job after the November international break – already the third such ultimatum issued to a manager who has seemed out of his depth all season.
They beat Newcastle and reports suggest that victory ‘sparked optimism that the team may have turned the corner,’ but in their very next fixture the Hammers conceded five first-half goals to an Arsenal side who applied the handbrake at half-time.
The loss to Leicester proved a step too far for most fans, the travelling contingent of which rather hopefully chanted that Lopetegui would be “sacked in the morning” at the King Power Stadium.
That result and performance has prompted ‘big concerns’ over ‘progress’, leaving the Spaniard ‘fighting to save his job’ and serving only to ‘intensify the internal doubts’, yet still there is talk of Lopetegui possibly overseeing the upcoming games against former club Wolves and Bournemouth despite the clear evidence being that he was the wrong appointment.
Whether West Ham stick with their blind faith in Lopetegui or move for one of his prospective replacements in Sergio Conceicao, Edin Terzic or Graham Potter, the club faces making some Premier League history this month.
The Premier League calendar year table makes for particularly miserable reading as only Everton (33) and Wolves (27) have fewer points than West Ham (34) of clubs who have spent all of 2024 in the top flight.
But in terms of goals conceded, West Ham are the worst by some margin with 71 put past Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski in 33 games.
The Premier League record for most goals conceded in a calendar year is 80, set by Steve Bruce and Eddie Howe’s Newcastle in 2021, so the Hammers must engender some sudden defensive improvement against Wolves, Bournemouth, Brighton, Southampton and Liverpool to avoid breaking it.
Moyes must share some of the responsibility after presiding over some heavy defeats towards the end of his tenure, but already Lopetegui has seen his side concede three or more goals in seven games.
It is easy to forget West Ham spent £55m on defenders Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer, while arranging a possible £35m deal for loanee Jean-Clair Todibo and bringing in free agent defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez in on big wages.
“Reflection today is not easy, because I think that we deserved much more,” Lopetegui said after the Leicester defeat.
“We had 31 shots on the opposite goal, many, many chances. The first goal of them has been key. We have to do better than this. We have to avoid this start of the match, because after this goal they believed more.
“Normally if you create even fewer chances, you are going to win. We didn’t do it, so we are very frustrated. The players didn’t deserve this.”
MORE ON THE WEST HAM MESS FROM F365
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👉 West Ham forced into Lopetegui sack by most damning verdict possible as ‘favoured option’ emerges
