Compared with the lone figure hunched on his own at the far end of the technical area just a week ago, this version of Julen Lopetegui was radically different in last night’s draw against Bournemouth. When Lucas Paquetá appeared from the bench in the previous week’s game against Wolves, he received no words of wisdom, coaching advice or even a pat on his back from his boss before entering the fray. West Ham’s head coach seemed lost in his own world of isolation.
Fast forward less than a week and here was a Julen Lopetegui actively involved with his squad: Advising, discussing, encouraging his substitutes instead of pointedly ignoring them. The resultant photos show a coach more in tune with his youngsters – itself something of a sticking point over the last few weeks. West Ham have sadly achieved the ‘least time spent on the pitch’ for under 23’s in the whole league.
Which is a depressing statistic for the “Academy of Football” aficionados like me.
So, we welcome the head coach’s obvious ‘reconnection’ with Lucas Paquetá who very pointedly ran half the length of the pitch (main pic) to embrace Lopetegui after calmly slotting in the late penalty: The two hugged warmly, without it looking at all contrived – in an apparent show of unity.
And the less obvious, almost avuncular arm around the shoulders for the Hammers’ two youngest subs looks again like a show of relief and genuine ‘oneness’ with his youngsters.
Of course, one swallow doesn’t make a summer so until we see Jean – Clair Todibo and Lopetegui sharing a red bull or Kudus and he quaffing a coffee together then it isn’t perhaps yet conclusive that J’Lo has won back the dressing room in it’s entirety. It does look like he’s doing something about it though. Which is a good thing.
I’m starting to think Loppy reads this forum and then puts into practice actions that address the points the writers and fans are making.
He ignores Paq, gets criticism on here, then he got his arm round him the following week.
He gets caned for not using our youth. The next week 3 are on the bench, and one of them gets 23 minutes!!
Exactly my point ….but I need to cut out the childish accusations …maybe i do 😁..but what a turnaround after scraping past wolves and drawing at Bournemouth…
we’ve been saying this about the academy boys for months. why didn’t he do it months ago then? perhaps you were being tongue-in-cheek
A draw at Bournemouth wasn’t a bad result seeing as they were coming off three straight wins. It doesn’t change anything so far as I’m concerned though. He was always the wrong appointment and his weaknesses are plain to see, we can very much do better and all the time we’re not doing so compounds the mistake of his appointment…
But for Fabianski’s Superman performance, along with some superb blocks by our backline and a whisker of a handball, this would have been 4-0. Perplexing use of Paqueta at right wing and Kudus on the left minimized our abilty to produce goals.
With Füllkrug healthy, why not have a frontline of Summerville, Kudus, Bowen, and Füllkrug up top. This would strike fear in any backline opposing us.
The constant inability of this manager to make cohesive use of assets demonstrates his questionable discernment. This is exactly the reason for frustration and lack of confidence displayed by players and fans alike.
If the board/owner fail to recognize this malady, and fail to properly address and correct it, we will always be a stepping stone for quality young players and will be further ignored by quality players of maturity. This club should strive to be a destination that attracts and keeps the best players we can afford.
I did enjoy seeing the passion and fight displayed last night, but there is so much more to be uncovered with proper leadership.
Hammer fans and players deserve to smile more often!🙂
That’s a good post Robert, I agree with you.
Thank you John.
I agree with everything you’ve said, it’s baffling why he would prefer to play Kudus on the left instead of Summerville! With Bowen down the centre Kudus has to play wide right with a combination of Soucek, Soler, Alvarez and Paqueta depending on the opponents. Can’t imagine what the lineup will be against Brighton but great to see Casey and Scarles getting some minutes last night but I would much prefer Lewis Orford getting 15 minutes or so just to see how far off he is playing regularly as he looked good in pre season and has great awareness and energy.
Something definitely not right with these posts ..all of a sudden he’s great …wtf is going on …you can’t change who you are ..you can pretend for a while but it won’t change that this bloke has no clue …..this site has done a full u turn after a point s against wolves and Bournemouth….Something fishy definitely going on ..🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑ffs
Ah ‘Kip’ – and therein lies your conundrum. ‘Were Something fishy’going on, (lol extreme) you wouldn’t have got your accusatory comment published, would you.
Check out lots of the reader comments, check out the words I have used, you are the only one using such ‘black or white’ extremes. I never said “he’s great.”
You’ll find, though, I’m more optimistic and hoping perhaps we have turned a corner.
Which is reflected in my words. Now disagree as much as you like. That’s what we’re here for.
But please Don’t make silly juvenile accusations.
Have you lot be threatened or paid ???
‘have we been threatened or paid’..lol..Oh I wish. We’re not that significant to warrant either!
Course you are bud …worth one of them for sure 🤣👍
shutup Kip. your reading comprehension is poor and you twisted meanings to suit yourself. obvious and embarrassing. try something balanced and stop screaming!
🤣🤣👍xx
Why have we not sacked the fool yet I do not understand he has lost the dressing room and for him to say that we deserve to win last night is rubbish. I must have been watching a different game we had a couple of chances and a lucky penalty another day we would not have got it. They were better than us, fitter than us. Still don’t know what system we play. Still last to the second ball. Players want to leave tells you the manager needs to go .
We played more as a team than recently. still not totally convinced we have turned the corner but next few games should show if we are going to be looking up or down for rest of season.
still thinking he is the wrong man for the job
Lopetegui has been ordered to mend fences with everyone or be sacked . He’s still clueless and the delay in getting rid of him will cause players to leave or not sign in the first place . The reality is that Bournemouth had enough chances to thrash Westham .
Yep 100%