Julen Lopetegui has opened up on the message he gave his West Ham United players after their pre-season friendly defeat to Wolves out in Florida.
Wolves beat West Ham 3-1 at the EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville last night, and Julen Lopetegui was clearly not happy one little bit.
It was a mixed bag for the Hammers during our pre-season friendly clash with Dagenham eight days ago, with some players shining and others disappointing.
However, there were far more poor performers than there were good for West Ham out in America last night.
Lopetegui is said to be eyeing up at least three more signings before the new season begins in three week’s time.
And judging by last night’s performance, he should be looking to bring in double that amount!
However, it is worth remembering that Lucas Paqueta, Edson Alvarez and Jarrod Bowen change this team overnight.
Perhaps things aren’t as bad as they seem, or maybe, many of the players who wore the Hammers shirt during our friendly clash with Wolves last night are in fact not good enough.
Either that, or they haven’t got the hunger and drive needed to succeed at the London Stadium under Lopetegui.
The West Ham boss made it very clear that much more hard work is needed, as he sent out a stark warning to his underperforming players after the Wolves defeat…
Julen Lopetegui shares what he told West Ham flops after Wolves defeat
The Spaniard looked very frustrated on the sidelines out in Jacksonville last night, and who can blame him?
Some of the players who were in action last night quite simply weren’t fit to wear the shirt, namely Maxwel Cornet, Aaron Cresswell and Vladimir Coufal.
It was a slow and sluggish performance from the Hammers – one that was obviously not helped by the rain and humid conditions, granted.
That’s no excuse though, the Wolves players looked much fitter and hungrier than our boys, and that’s unacceptable as far as I’m concerned.
And the West Ham boss is quite clearly thinking along the same lines.
Lopetegui addressed the media in the early hours of this morning, UK time, and held nothing back when it comes to what he expects from his players, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
The Hammers Head Coach said, “We are aware that we have to work very hard in the next three weeks to be ready for the start of the Premier League and OK, let’s see.“
“Today, Wolves were better and they deserved to win. We have to do a lot of things but despite the fact we have a lot of new players and a lot of Academy players, it is not an excuse,“ Lopetegui continued.
The Spaniard observed, “I think that we have to improve in a lot of things with and without the ball, so we have a lot of work to do in front of us. We have to do a lot better and a lot of much better things to win the matches, so that’s why I told the players the demands will be higher and we have to try to translate this in the next three weeks.“
I love that attitude from the gaffer – he’s ensuring that not one single player slips into any kind of complacency.
He’s obviously not prepared to tolerate mediocrity, and nor should he be.
Julen Lopetegui has made it very clear just how much work his West Ham players need to do over the next few weeks in order to be ready for the new Premier League season.
Now it’s up to the players themselves to work their socks off and get up to speed before our Premier League opener against Aston Villa.
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