Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United play host to Chelsea at the London Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.
West Ham replaced David Moyes with Julen Lopetegui officially on July 1st, and the Spaniard immediately made huge changes at the London Stadium.
The West Ham head coach brought in nine new players, and got rid of much of the deadwood at the London Stadium.
And it has been claimed that the Spaniard is still in the market to bring in at least one more signing on a free transfer.
Lopetegui is desperately trying to implement his own unique playing style at the London Stadium, but that will take time to come to fruition.
What the 58-year-old has to do right now is ensure that he picks up results along the way. It’s incredibly hard to give a new manager patience and time if his team are losing more than they’re winning.
So with the Chelsea clash just two days away now, Lopetegui will undoubtedly be feeling the pressure.
Julen Lopetegui needs a win in West Ham vs Chelsea clash
It’s quite obvious that a win would be huge for the Hammers this weekend against the Blues.
A victory would see us start the season with seven points from our opening five Premier League games – a solid return considering our fixtures.
However, not losing will be important as well, in more ways than one.
Lopetegui lost just three Premier League games at Molineux whilst in charge of Wolves from November 2022 up until August 2023.
During his three-year spell at Seville, he lost only 12 home games in charge of the La Liga outfit.
And way back in 2014 up until January 2016, he oversaw just four home defeats during his reign at Porto.
That is quite the home record isn’t it.
However, it’s not looking great for Lopetegui at the London Stadium right now.
Lopetegui’s reputation on the line
The Hammers have lost both of our Premier League home games so far, to Aston Villa and Manchester City respectively.
We did beat Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, rather fortunately by most peoples’ estimations.
So next up for West Ham is Chelsea at home on Saturday.
Now, a defeat to the Blues would make it three losses from our opening four home games in all competitions.
And here’s the kicker – we have games against Manchester United, Arsenal, Brighton and Liverpool all to come at the London Stadium before the new year.
If Julen Lopetegui is not careful, his immense home record – one that the West Ham chief is well renowned for, is in danger of being completely ruined.
However, a win against Chelsea would change the narrative completely and set the Hammers up for the next batch of fixtures.
The Spaniard needs to make the London Stadium a fortress, if he is to oversee some genuine progress in charge of West Ham.
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