West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui is under intense pressure at the moment.
Julen Lopetegui replaced David Moyes as the new West Ham boss in the summer, but he has failed to implement a clear footballing philosophy at the London Stadium.
Lopetegui faces an extremely uncertain future as Hammers head coach, with the likes of Graham Potter apparently being lined up to replace the Spaniard.
The 58-year-old has really disappointed since arriving in East London, and his performance simply hasn’t been good enough, especially after the huge outlay on transfers in the summer.
It seems to me like he’s a dead man walking right now, and he faces the sack if the Hammers lose our next two games against Newcastle and Arsenal respectively.
The former Wolves boss needs to try a different tack, if he’s to succeed at the London Stadium.
One of Lopetegui’s chief remits when he took over was to give more chances to talented youth players.
That hasn’t happened at all thus far, and there are some dissenting voices now emerging from inside the club.
West Ham source close to player piles pressure on Julen Lopetegui
The Spaniard’s position seems untenable right now in all honesty.
He was the wrong appointment in the first place as far as I’m concerned.
The fact that we have zero identity as a team should be enough in itself to show the board that Lopetegui needs sacking.
However, more damning revelations are now being made about the Spaniard and his methods.
A source close to a West Ham youngster told The Athletic how Lopetegui is blocking the pathway to the first-team for the club’s youth players:
“Julen Lopetegui is under pressure so he won’t have any interest in playing the youngsters,” said a source close to an academy graduate. “They win the FA Youth Cup and what’s the reward? To not even get a chance to feature on the bench. Arsenal lost, but two of their youngsters (Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly) from that side have played for the first team this season. Why can’t we do that?
“I really feel for the youngsters. If I was a young player and West Ham were one of the clubs interested in signing me, I wouldn’t go there. The club needs to address this because more youngsters will turn down contract offers like (Ben) Johnson and Mubama. There needs to be a complete change in the culture at the club. People with influence need to push for the youngsters to be more involved.”
I totally agree with that sentiment. In my opinion, Lopetegui has let everyone at the club down with his lack of faith in the youngsters.
Give youth a chance to save West Ham’s season Julen
Lopetegui failed to get the Hammers fans onside from his first day in charge at the London Stadium.
His lack of personality has made his approach to press conference and matches beyond dull.
Lopetegui is devoid of any kind of charisma, and as a result, he needs to take a new approach, if he is to survive at the London Stadium.
The best way to get the fans immediately back onside is to give youth a chance as far as I’m concerned.
Our best young player – George Earthy – is currently out on loan with Bristol City, but we have plenty more at the club who are ready to compete at the highest level in my opinion.
Lewis Orford, Ollie Scarles and Kaelan Casey are all good enough to feature in the match-day squads under Lopetegui.
Let’s be honest here, it’s highly unlikely that we will get relegated this season, or be even close to the bottom three at any point.
So why not give the talented youngsters at the club a chance to shine? I guarantee you one thing, if Julen Lopetegui gave some minutes to some of the most talented West Ham youth prospects, the fans would be more open to giving him some time.
Will he be brave enough to do that though? I highly doubt it…
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