Julen Lopetegui is already under intense pressure at West Ham now Nayef Aguerd has just turned up the heat big time.
Let this next sentence sink in West Ham fans.
No club in the Premier League has conceded more goals than the Hammers in 2024.
West Ham started shipping goals at an alarming rate under David Moyes in the second half of last season.
Julen Lopetegui has done nothing to address that with only three clubs conceding more than his shambolic side this term.
The Irons broke a Premier League club record for goals conceded last season as they let in 74.
Lopetegui’s Hammers are on course to come close to matching that. At their current rate, they will ship 70 by the end of the season.
The problem is the Spaniard has had £87m spent on three new defenders to ensure that wasn’t the case.
Max Kilman was brought in from Wolves for £40m. And Jean-Clair Todibo will cost the Hammers £32m after triggering the permanent clause in his loan deal.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was a bargain £15m and has been one of few bright spots for the east Londoners.
Aguerd piles pressure on Lopetegui at West Ham
When Lopetegui came in, his first decision was to tell Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd they were surplus to requirements.
Nobody questioned it at the time given West Ham’s awful defensive record the season before.
The 5-2 capitulation at home to Arsenal was the latest in a series of hammerings Lopetegui has overseen.
West Ham have lost 3-1 to Man City, 3-0 to Chelsea, 5-1 to Liverpool, 4-1 to Spurs, 3-0 to Forest and now 5-2 to the Gunners.
The manner of the collapses in those games has been even more alarming than the scorelines.
As a result West Ham’s manager finds himself back under intense pressure.
It has also emerged that Todibo continues to have injury and fitness issues.
The Hammers looked at the free agent market to try and sign a centre-back in the summer as Lopetegui was not comfortable having just three senior centre-backs.
Now West Ham loan star Aguerd has piled the pressure on Lopetegui after a shocking new revelation.
Have Hammers dropped a clanger after shocking revelation?
Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing but West Ham look to have dropped a real clanger giving up on Aguerd too soon.
With defence still the club’s biggest issue, it has been galling to see £30m signing Aguerd performing brilliantly on loan at Real Sociedad in La Liga.
It was reported recently that Real Madrid want Aguerd.
Manchester United are also said to be one of ‘several European clubs’ interested in signing the 28-year-old on a permanent basis.
Now, with West Ham leakier than the Old Trafford roof, an Aguerd announcement makes Lopetegui look silly.
It doesn’t reflect well on technical director Tim Steidten either of course given he is in ultimate charge of all football matters.
Aguerd has been named in the La Liga team of the month.
The world’s leading football data experts WhoScored have named West Ham-owned Aguerd in the official statistical team of the month for the Spanish top flight.
Aguerd is the only Sociedad in the team with his excellent 7.15/10 average match rating.
If West Ham were performing well defensively and not shipping goals, this wouldn’t be an issue.
But it raises questions as to whether Lopetegui and Steidten made the wrong call letting the Moroccan leave.
A deeper dive shows Aguerd has been Sociedad’s fourth-best player this season.
The only positive is that the centre-back’s performances may help the Hammers fetch a better fee for him when he is sold.
With Thilo Kehrer also shining at Monaco, some of the decision-making in east London needs to be looked at.
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