West Ham are currently 14th in the Premier League after 11 matches played, even though they were one of the busiest teams in the summer transfer window, bringing in some established starters from notable European clubs like Carlos Soler, Niclas Fullkrug, and Jean-Clair Todibo.
From the start, Julen Lopetegui was always an underwhelming hire and an arguable downgrade on David Moyes when comparing resumes, given that, outside of a strong 2021/22 season with Sevilla, Lopetegui has never actually outperformed on a club’s expectations.
Now, Lopetegui is headed for another disastrous season equivalent to the 2022/23 campaign in Seville that got him fired for relegation specialist Jose Luis Mendilibar, who took that same team to a Europa League Final triumph over Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
As the losses pile up, the reports look more and more grim for Lopetegui, with rumors increasingly linking West Ham to former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic.
And now, the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg reports that the next two West Ham matches are make-or-break for Julen Lopetegui, and they are against two European contenders in Arsenal and Newcastle.
West Ham are reportedly prepared to fire Lopetegui if he is unable to get results – a draw at a minimum – as “serious ramifications” are reportedly down the pipes if the Spanish coach were to lose both matches.
Steinberg goes as far as to say that while West Ham are indeed reluctant to fire managers in the middle of the season, they would also consider canning Lopetegui if he were to be embarrassed on Monday against Newcastle, too.
Basically, Lopetegui’s future is grim, and since West Ham are throwing around the idea of firing him if he loses to two teams the Hammers are expected to lose to in a report to the largest outlet in the country, it stands to reason that they are looking for reasons to viably fire him just months after hiring him.
At the end of the day, when a manager struggles this badly and gets fired this quickly – since that seems to be his ultimate fate here – the fault lies in the club’s decision-makers for hiring that manager in the first place.
The majority of West Ham fans were not happy about Lopetegui’s appointment to begin with, and as reports circulate about what needs to happen for Lopetegui to keep his job or get fired, it is becoming obvious that West Ham don’t believe in their manager; they are just worried about the optics of firing him now.
