Julen Lopetegui has fallen out with yet another West Ham star as tales of unrest continue to undermine his future at the club.
After 25 years keeping track of every football match in the country, there’s no flies on Jeff Stelling.
And something grabbed his attention when West Ham played Wolves at the London Stadium on Monday night.
Julen Lopetegui is clinging on to his job as Hammers boss after another unconvincing display.
West Ham were fortunate to beat woeful Wolves 2-1, a result which keeps the Spaniard in a job for now.
The Hammers board have made it clear they’re far from convinced.
That piles the pressure on Lopetegui for a tough couple of games against Bournemouth and Brighton next.
There is a clear lack of connection between the West Ham players and the manager.
It’s there for all to see on the pitch.
But also by virtue of the fact highly detailed leaks continue to emerge from the dressing room and training ground about serious issues.
They say there’s no smoke without fire and claims of unrest in the ranks have followed Lopetegui’s West Ham tenure like a bad smell.
Lopetegui had a major bust-up with star player Mohammed Kudus at Brentford.
Stelling saw proof yet another West Ham star has fallen out with Lopetegui
Jarrod Bowen had to intervene as £32m summer signing Jean-Clair Todibo swung for Lopetegui during a disagreement at half-time of the shambolic 5-2 defeat to Arsenal.
Lopetegui admitted there was an incident between him and Todibo but described it as ‘nothing important’.
A top club source claims fans have been lied to about chaos behind the scenes at West Ham.
A mutiny was building in the ranks before Michail Antonio’s horrific car crash dampened the noise.
Five top stars – including Kudus – want out of West Ham if Lopetegui stays according to sources.
The likes of Lucas Paqueta, Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez have been seen aiming dissent at the under pressure manager publicly when substituted.
The Athletic’s West Ham reporter Roshane Thomas suggested “mind-blowing stuff” going on behind the scenes will be revealed when Lopetegui departs.
Thomas even stated the “the gloves will be off” when that time comes.
Kudus showed he has a distinct lack of respect for Lopetegui as he ranted at the Hammers boss when subbed off against Wolves.
It seems unrest rules at the London Stadium.
Stelling saw proof yet another West Ham star has fallen out with Lopetegui.
Paqueta the latest Hammers star at odds with Lopetegui?
The talkSPORT host told West Ham legend Alvin Martin he thinks there is a new rift between Lopetegui and £51m record signing Paqueta.
“Do you think there’s an issue between Julen Lopetegui and Lucas Paqueta at the moment?” Stelling said on talkSPORT (10 December, 7:13am).
“Not only is he not starting, I noticed that when he brought him on as a substitute last night, Lopetegui didn’t acknowledge him at all, he stood right at the end of the technical area, as far away from Paqueta as he possibly could.
“He didn’t speak to him, no pat on the back, nothing like that (yet) when they made other substitutions, he had a word with the subs as they were coming on.
“But there was no communication with Paqueta at all.”
Position will be untenable at the next sign of a poor result
West Ham fans would point to performance levels for all the evidence needed that there is a lack of connection between the manager and players.
Hammers fans have been calling for Lopetegui to be sacked.
But the board’s refusal to act – reportedly driven by them wanting to buy more time to line up a replacement – has left fans conflicted.
The Hammers faithful obviously want to see their team win.
However, there is no confidence Lopetegui is the right man for the job and supporters are bored.
So it is felt these isolated wins, which mean little in terms of building towards anything, are merely delaying the inevitable.
With so many players at odds with the manager, his position will become untenable the moment West Ham fail to get positive results from games they are expected to.
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