West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui has surprisingly received some strong criticism already since taking over at the London Stadium.
We all need to be patient with him, and allow him time to implement his ideas at the club. However, that doesn’t mean that he should be immune from constructive criticism.
Julen Lopetegui received plenty of criticism from the West Ham fans throughout the game at Fulham on Saturday, and rightly so – he got his team selection wrong in so many ways.
That said, Lopetegui proved that he’s not afraid to change things and admit that he got it wrong from the start, with two changes at half-time, and then another three during the second-half.
I think the main thing we all need to remember is that positive change does not happen overnight. In football, genuine progress under new management requires time and patience from everyone involved with the club.
As I’ve said though, constructive criticism is fine. However, those criticising Lopetegui just because he replaced their hero David Moyes as the new West Ham manager need to take a step back…
Enough with Julen Lopetegui criticism, West Ham are better off
The Hammers have shown some really positive signs so far this season, and there have obviously been some concerning aspects to our play as well.
The thing is, Lopetegui brought in nine new players during the summer transfer window. It will take time for all of them to gel together in his system.
Meanwhile, 12 left the London Stadium. That is a seriously big turnover of players.
And let’s all be honest here, there have been clear signings of improvement already.
The way that we press higher up the pitch as a team has been clearly evident, and the boys have quite obviously been instructed to play out from the back.
However, there is statistical evidence as well that we are in a much better place now under the guidance of Lopetegui.
So, the Hammers have taken four points from our opening four games against Aston Villa and Manchester City at home and Crystal Palace and Fulham away, and have a goal difference of -1.
In those corresponding games last season, West Ham lost to Man City 3-1, and drew 1-1 with Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, we lost 5-0 away to Fulham and 5-2 away to Crystal Palace.
So that’s a total of one point and a goal difference of -10.
Clear signs of progress under Lopetegui
A big difference then. We are three points and nine goals better of from we were in the corresponding fixtures last season.
14 goals conceded last season in those four games and just six this time around.
I think it’s time for those West Ham fans who are criticising Julen Lopetegui to stop. It may well be a slow process for us to get where we want to be.
But there have already been big improvements.
One thing I will say is that Julen Lopetegui needs to start getting his West Ham starting XI bang on the money.
He has given chances to those we all know aren’t good enough, and starting from Saturday, that needs to change.
That said, I’m happy with the direction we’re heading in.
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