A West Ham supporting Telegraph journalist went undercover for the game at Fulham and was left baffled by Julen Lopetegui.
West Ham came away from Fulham with a 1-1 draw and a point. But only just.
The hosts could and should have been out of sight by the time Danny Ings scored a well taken goal in the last of 95 minutes at Craven Cottage.
Indeed the Hammers even nearly lost it in the seconds that remained when Calvin Bassey went close to getting a winner after Raul Jimenez’s first half strike.
West Ham fans are well aware the team is going to be a work in progress under Julen Lopetegui.
That much is obvious with a new manager trying to implement a new philosophy with with a turnover of 21 players in a single summer.
But supporters want to see signs of what Lopetegui is looking to achieve.
There have been glimpses of that so far albeit fleeting.
However, there’s no hiding the fact West Ham have ridden their luck in every game under Lopetegui so far.
The team is wide open at the back and look vulnerable. Perhaps that’s to be expected with all the changes.
What has not been expected is Lopetegui’s team selections.
Undercover Telegraph journalist left baffled by Lopetegui
The Spaniard continues to play the likes of Tomas Soucek, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Michail Antonio.
West Ham looked like a David Moyes side the in the first half at Fulham.
And not just in the fact those three players started the game despite Lopetegui and Steidten signing players to replace them.
Changes were expected after a two-week international break.
With Antonio having only just arrived back from a 12,000 mile round trip and two games for Jamaica played in intense heat, Lopetegui had the perfect excuse to drop him. If the poor performances so far this season were not enough.
But he started again and both he and Soucek were very poor while Mavropanos was at fault for the goal.
Meanwhile the likes of Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville, Carlos Soler and at Fulham even Lucas Paqueta were on the bench.
It only served to add to fan frustration which has been building over team selection, particularly regarding new striker signing Niclas Fullkrug – unavailable due to injury at Fulham.
One fan who was particularly frustrated also happens to be a national newspaper journalist.
Former Mirror turned Telegraph reporter Dan Silver is a big Hammers fan.
Hammers supporting reporter: ‘No clear gameplan’
Silver was also a vociferous critic of the style of play under Moyes over the last couple of seasons.
The Telegraph journalist went undercover but was left baffled by Lopetegui’s West Ham tactics at Fulham.
Silver managed to get a seat in the home section for the game to watch the Hammers.
But he was far from impressed in a first half which may just prove to be a watershed moment for Lopetegui at West Ham.
“Deep undercover in the Johnny Haynes stand today but thankfully West Ham have given me absolutely nothing to pretend not to cheer about,” Silver said during one of the worst halves of football from the Hammers for some time.
“Literally no idea what our gameplan is, or what we’re trying to do on the ball.
“Fulham playing us off the park so far.”
Silver had a happier update to share late on when Ings scored in the dying moments to nick a point.
“May have had to chew on my clapper when that Ings goal went in,” he added.
Silver was only saying the same thing as the vast majority of his fellow West Ham fans.
Quite what Lopetegui was thinking with that starting XI is anyone’s guess.
Hammers fans can only hope the 57-year-old learns his lesson from today.
Because had West Ham lost that game – as they deserved to – then the blame would have been solely on his shoulders.
The big positive, though, is that he didn’t wait until the 60 or 65th minute to make changes like his predecessor used to.
On came Summerville and Paqueta at half-time and there was a marked improvement in the second half.
When assessing West Ham it must be remembered this is probably not going to come together overnight.
But everyone at the club has made it perfectly clear the goal is to qualify for Europe.
So with that comes its own pressure, especially when facing teams West Ham might be expected to beat.
Silver’s point still stands, though. There needs to be a clear style of play or identity to Lopetegui’s team that fans can get behind or buy into.
For now a point saved is a best case scenario. Now Lopetegui must use it to shape his best XI going forwards.
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