Ahead of the game against Arsenal the big question on everyone’s lips was whether West Ham had turned a corner after Newcastle.
The answer, plain and simple, is no.
Yes Arsenal are a quality side and few expected West Ham to get anything from the game.
But don’t be fooled by the little bit of fight shown when the Gunners went 4-0 up.
That was down to Arsenal taking their foot off the gas above anything else.
This was yet another pathetic, insipid and naïve defensive display against a so-called rival.
If Julen Lopetegui’s job was on the line ahead of these two games then one win at Newcastle does not suddenly make him the right man for West Ham.
There had been no evidence that was the case before that game.
And the Hammers were back to their woefully inept worst against Arsenal.
There have been some terrible West Ham teams down the years.
But it feels like even the Hammers sides that were relegated were not as bad as this one defensively.
These problems set in before Lopetegui’s arrival of course.
Let’s not kid ourselves West Ham are awful
What must be remembered, though, is that £87m has been spent on Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to improve that.
West Ham have now conceded 24 goals this season, the joint fourth worst in the top flight.
Continue like that and the Hammers will go close to matching their Premier League club record worst of 74 conceded last term.
Lopetegui was brought in to improve this side.
But West Ham are continually being embarrassed.
The Irons have now been thrashed by Man City, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Forest and Arsenal.
That’s unacceptable.
To concede five goals in the first half of any game, let alone a London derby, is totally unacceptable and inexcusable.
After the win at Newcastle Jamie Carragher warned West Ham’s owners and fans not to get carried away by a sudden spike in running stats.
Carragher said that if West Ham’s players really thought that much of Lopetegui they’d have been putting in that kind of effort all season.
Lopetegui must go if West Ham lose to Leicester
The Hammers huffed and puffed at 4-0 down.
But let’s not kid ourselves West Ham are awful and Lopetegui must go if we lose to Leicester.
If the Spaniard’s job really was on the line had we lost to Newcastle and Arsenal, then the same should apply if we lose at Leicester.
The Foxes were themselves thrashed 4-1 in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game at Brentford.
It will be a lively atmosphere for his first home game on Tuesday, though.
West Ham’s squad is incomparably superior to Leicester’s in terms of quality. On paper at least.
After spending £155m in the summer, the Hammers should not be down in 14th place.
We are now over a third of the way through a season that’s threatening to be over before it’s started.
Lopetegui’s tactics against Arsenal were not too dissimilar to that of David Moyes.
His first change of the game was to bring Crysencio Summerville – one of West Ham’s only players with genuine pace – off.
Shambolic Hammers are unacceptably bad
It’s not what you want to see when you’re losing 5-2 at half-time.
West Ham fans have now left en masse long before the final whistle in seven of the manager’s 15 matches in charge.
That tells its own story.
This level of lacklustre, clueless defending and tactical approach is not acceptable.
Tim Steidten has to take his fair share of blame too.
West Ham have taken the Premier League’s second oldest squad and made it THE oldest.
It shows on the pitch too. Beyond the likes of Wan-Bissaka, Jarrod Bowen, Summerville and Mohammed Kudus there’s little pace and athleticism in the entire squad.
Are West Ham’s owners going to blindly stick by Lopetegui if we lose at Leicester?
At virtually any other Premier League club Lopetegui would have been sacked by now.
Shipping goals and giving up shots at such a shocking rate will surely have alarm bells ringing in the boardroom.
West Ham gave themselves a platform to build on with that shock win at Newcastle.
But all the good work has been wasted.
Leicester should be a must win.
Or you have to question the ambition of the club.
Sticking by managers is noble. But that doesn’t make it the right call.
Sometimes real bravery comes through making tough decisions when they need to be made.
Every West Ham fan wanted it to work out for Lopetegui.
Even if he was an underwhelming choice.
David Sullivan and co reportedly had several managers on standby to take over if West Ham lost to Newcastle.
He may need to keep his phone handy on Tuesday.
This cannot go on without consequence.
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