West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui admitted that the game against Tottenham got away from him far more quickly than he expected.
During the second half of the encounter with Tottenham, the Hammers went 2-1 down, prompting Lopetegui to attempt a triple substitution in the hope of turning the game back in his favour.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, the score-line seemed to be 4-1 in the blink of an eye following Ange Postecoglou’s halftime tactical switch, with goals from Yves Bissouma, Son Heung-min, and an own goal from Jean-Clair Todibo or Alphonse Areola, depending on which newspaper you read.
It was an eight-minute spell that ended any hopes of the Hammers getting any points from the game, as Lopetegui waited to make changes. The Irons coach cut a frustrated figure on the touchline as he looked to make his changes but he must take some blame as he decided against making the subs when the ball went out of play for a corner.
“We wanted to make the substitutions at 2-1, but everything happened very fast,” replied Lopetegui. “It’s true that even before it went 2-1, we were thinking about changing the players, but things in football can happen very fast, and it was a bad moment for us. Despite not getting the substitutes on, I think we can do better with the players on the pitch. It’s about keeping the focus and the right mentality.”
We will be in trouble by Xmas if this manager stays.
Potter IN asap please!
He once again got the starting line up wrong.
This is not knee jerk, he needs to go. He still does not know his best line up or have a definite way of playing.
The midfield is slow, unimaginative and easily cut through. And we have no decent striker options. People say we did fantastic in the last transfer window but we are seeing that the same problems under Moyes are still present under Lopetegui.
NOpetegui to GOpetegui and now JOKEpetegui , No former goalkeepers are remotely creative as managers , just Google search and there’s no major league winners ever which proves the point . Westham look like a poorly run school team . Thus far , imbecilic tactical moves in every game prove that Lopetegui must be sacked now to allow a new care taker manager ( Noble ? ) to stabilize Westham before our better players implode ( Kudus is clearly finished with Lopetegui ) . Paqueta is literally worthless now both as a player and potential transfer and must be dropped . Kudus and Alvarez both want away from this joke team . With Lopetegui coaching , Westham will likely be in the relegation zone after playing Man U , Forest and Everton .
First half Moyesball. Second half Loppyball. That’s my summary of the game.
Apart from Lopetegui, I blame all of those who stroke his ego by saying “look what we did to Ipswich”, “Give him until Xmas”, “we are about where we should be”, “It’s too soon to judge”, well it might be for some, but others understand that when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck……
This from someone who is supposed to be an experienced coach having worked with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Spain and in the PL with Wolves. The picture just gets worse. How I would love to go for a beer with some of the West Ham players.
It is true that it happened fast, all while the three subs were waiting to come on. Perhaps the lesson is that once it’s decided to make subs get them on at the very first opportunity.