Lopetegui (sacked 8.1.2025)

[maverick180]

I was thoroughly looking forward to the start of this season

Was also prepared that things might take some time and wasn't expecting miracles over night What I didn't expect was a manager who after spending 6 weeks with the total dross he'd been left by Moyes would deem them fit to start in a premier league game And low and behold all of them played absolute shit

We're now 1 game in and none of our new players are any closer to bedding in or learning anything from their new team mates cos they barely spent a second on the pitch, half of them not at all I think it's gonna take somewhere between 6-10 games before we see the team anyone with an ounce of sense would play cos this bloke can't identify shit when he see's it I thought we was handed a miracle at half time when we went in level and low and behold he changed nothing I'm sure people are gonna make excuses for him and say it's too early to judge

But from what I've just seen today, this cսnt is David Moyes in a mission impossible mask

[Manuel]

Obviously Stubbo is right on our headless chicken approach once in and around their box, the good news is that is easy to fix but whether we do or not is another matter.

[easthammer]

I agree with Stubbo.  I think both Paqueta and Kudus are at fault, Paqueta seems to have forgotten how to play a simple pass and Kudus appears to have concluded that the only way is to take on the opposition single-handed. We need a captain on the pitch to keep them on the straight and narrow, not sure that is Bowen. I can't think of anyone in the team who might take on that job, so instead of in-game bollockings,  the manager gets stuck into them at half-time with the result, one wants to fight the manager and the other just sulks. I hope that they are both benched for the Ipswich game. 

[aldgate]

we've been here before a lot with strikers rather than managers. we all want the new fella to succeed and you make excuses for a while but you know he's not the answer. it breaks your heart a little bit and you'd give him more time but football is a business and he's the wrong foot in the wrong shoe. the bournemouth manager is the young spaniard we needed not this old twitching twat

[stubbo-admin]

I don't really agree. I mean look at the actions of Paqueta and Kudus in the first half at the weekend. Could you ever imagine someone at Man City trying the womder-passes or 1 in 50 shots they were trying? The style he is instilling is predicated on treating possession as precious, so if there isn't a clear opening, recycle it, keep moving other team around, until a defender misses their position or trigger and presents you with an opening to exploit.

To many times Kudus, Paqueta and Antonio attempted the miracle pass, the worldie shot, or the speculative punt, surrendered possession and put us back on the defensive. 

That may have been the way under Moyes on the counter, but under this guy holding onto the ball and 'probing' is king. Maybe they're the wrong players for the system, but there is a system and if they dont play to the plan he's right to hook them.

I actually though at the weekend we were good at winning the ball back and progressing it in a controlled way to the final third....but then fucking hopeless at patiently developing an opening....too often treating it as a 'must create now' moment every time we got near the penalty box. 

[Jaan Kenbrovin]

Lopetegui's problem is he doesn't have a balanced side that can play on the same wave length he needs. Which is why Kudus and Paqueta are under criticism for trying too much to carry the side as individuals, as his tactics are clearly failing. Sadly they will likely both move on to better things and  to get a side that don't take risks will only bring the overall quality of the squad down further.


 

[wils]

Plays a player out of position and then singles him out for being shit 

this fraud has the full repertoire of being a complete and utter club killer 

But there is more to this. Yes he is out of position and he doesn't like it probably shouldn't have to do it. But "following the players being told they were playing as individuals rather than a team." This is clearly true for many of the team and shouldn't be a consequence of being played out of position.

[Maverick180180]

Plays a player out of position and then singles him out for being shit 

this fraud has the full repertoire of being a complete and utter club killer 

[stubbo-admin]

Kudus has clearly been struggling down the left. Feel like as skipper, Bowen should step up and give it a go on the 'wrong' side

[Jaan Kenbrovin]

---

Falling out with Kudus doesn't fill me with any hope. Hopefully nothing in it really, as there is only one winner in that, and it's not the club.

 

[stubbo-admin]

@whujoe
Kudus had to be “restrained” after being singled out by Lopetegui at HT on Saturday, after the players were told they were playing as individuals rather than a team

If true, gives me a bit of hope about Lopetegui. 

Beat me to it

[stubbo-admin]

[wils]

@whujoe
Kudus had to be “restrained” after being singled out by Lopetegui at HT on Saturday, after the players were told they were playing as individuals rather than a team

If true, gives me a bit of hope about Lopetegui. 

[Leavemyarcelona]

Back in the day we loved winning 4-3, losing 4-3. And as long as we played with a bit of flair, players gave their all and the fans were entertained.

[Leavemyarcelona]

Why is TC talking nonsense but some on here are correct?

TC has been chatting shit for decades mate...it's nothing new.

How? He said he didn't want Lopetegui

[simons]

Talking about Mancs on five live tonight, and saying they have no defined style of play, and the only other team in the Prem without one is us. Hard to argue with that, although their manager has had a lot longer to try and find one. 

[CanningTownWA]

Sir Alf, it took the Bournemouth manager ten games to  get a win last season and then got them playing well.  We need to give the players a chance to adapt and fit in, it’s much too early and we would be a laughing stock sacking him now.  Todibo is improving every game and we have Fulllkrug to come back so there is a bit of light in the tunnel.

[zico]

What worries me the most is our midfield has more perforations than a tea bag. The ball just doesn't stop before it reaches the defence.

Unusual, considering we do have some water carriers/grafters in that position like Álvarez, Guido, Soucek.

Slow water carriers though that's the problem, by the time they get there the balls gone as Alvarez with his yellow cards finds out too often! We need a Kante type or sadly Rice would make a huge difference in there.  

[eusebiovic]

What worries me the most is our midfield has more perforations than a tea bag. The ball just doesn't stop before it reaches the defence.

Unusual, considering we do have some water carriers/grafters in that position like Álvarez, Guido, Soucek.

[Full Rug]

Exactly, A point a game is relegation battle form.

I wouldn’t mind if we had been unlucky but our football quality has been crap, and the red flag is the amount of early tactical substitutions Lopetegui has already made.

I think we've actually been very lucky to get 5 points, we've only played well for 20 minutes against Palace.

[zico]

Must say though surely Steidten doesn't get a free pass with some of the signings. More not so good than good IMO at the moment but of course that may change. 

[Sir Alf]

Im gonna stick with 10 league games milestone before reaching early conclusions but I have to agree there is very little to cling onto for hope at this juncture some 6 games in.

Todibo/Kilman partnership might blossom and Summerville looked lively in a couple of games and we are trying to keep it more and play from the back. Thats about it?  

There are a lot of negatives in terms of selections and not solving defensive issues although conceding only 1 against a weakened Brentford and Fulham asay might be seen as improvement but it feels like the proverbial “clutching at straws”?

The fact we no longer defend deep means no more quick counters which provided a lot of goals in the Moyes eras. Set pieces were the other weapon but now we try to play our way thru and stretch teams it would appear goal scoring has become a problem this  season?

As mentioned, aside from not solving the 15 year wait for a proper quick, powerful striker the other big area of improvement was an engine or two in central midfield. Pace, strength still in short supply which, if u want to get and keep the ball as the gpindation of ur tactics you need younger athletes in the fast paced, intense Premiership. One or both of Loppy and Steidten seem to have made a major cockup here imo.  A 30 year old Argentinian and ball playing Spainard from PSG have not addressed this flaw.  Its a big part of why we struggle to counter press and get overrun.  Coaching the whole team to recover the ball asap is of course a part of it too but against Chelsea, Liverpool, City and even Fulham, Palace and Bpurnemouth at times we chase shadows.  

Still believe Paqueta should play deeper as he did at the start of last season but that wont solve tje central midfield issues. Its where u need to control the play but we still get caught in possession too many times and cannot press teams or stretch them when we do have the ball. This is made even worse by having no real outlet thru the middle up front.  Ings too slow and lightweight, Bowen too lightweight and cannot play with his back to goal and Antonio unable to trap a bag of cement

[Jaan Kenbrovin]

Exactly, A point a game is relegation battle form.

I wouldn’t mind if we had been unlucky but our football quality has been crap, and the red flag is the amount of early tactical substitutions Lopetegui has already made.

[Lee Trundle]

Reckon that's come from 4 years of Moyes, Russ.  I agree with you fully, though.

Who care's who we've played so far?  5 points from 6 games with the performances we've had after spending £150m is shit.

[Russ of the BML]

One thing I have noticed, slightly off topic, is the amount of West Ham supporters who have normalised losing. The amount of times I have read this weekend and today "We have lost to 3 of the teams above us...."

That annoys me. Yes, I know West Ham supporters do not expect West Ham to win the league, win all their homes games, even beat any of the top four....But fuck me, there is a way to get beat and its the manner in which you do it. And any West Ham fan that shrugged their shoulders and moved on after that defeat to Chelsea at home this season is either a fucking disingenuous cսnt or an alcoholic / glue sniffer or both. 

It was a fucking embarrassing abysmal defeat. 

[ludo21]

With the benefit of hindsight several of our summer signings are looking dubious.

We aren't really in the position to take a punt on a £20m Brazilian wonderkid, especially when we already have decent players in his position and have a limited budget.

The two midfielders that we ended up with, Rodriguez and Solar were basically cheap options that on paper should be okay but I very much doubt they were ever prime targets or fit for purpose.

Fulkrug could go either way. We will only know once he has had a run of games.

Not being wise after the event as I said so at the time but I would have retained Downes and brought in Jacob Greaves and Andre who we were said to be interested in but ended up at Wolves. All three are currently below us in the table but I'm confident they will prove to be better than what we have, certainly in the long term.

Don't know who is responsible in particular for the slow shitty midfield, Steitden or Lopetegui but I think that could easily have been foreseen by anyone half competent.