LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 27: A general view inside the stadium as Neal Maupay of Brighton & Hove Albion scores their team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion at London Stadium on December 27, 2020 in London, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Head coach of West Ham United Julen Lopetegui is going to wake up this morning injured and battered, both literally and figuratively.
In the Carabao Cup, Liverpool defeated West Ham 5-1, and Julen Lopetegui looked helpless on the sidelines.
To make matters worse, Lopetegui hurt his calf making a gesture towards Crysencio Summerville, the Hammers’ winger.
We lost because of the players’ subpar second-half effort; Edson Alvarez particularly let his manager, teammates, and supporters down when he was sent off with 15 minutes remaining.
With two days to go before his team’s away match against Brentford, Lopetegui is under a lot of pressure right now, so he needs to put in a lot of effort in the gym with his players.
The result of the game against the Bees will be crucial to Lopetegui’s ambitions of elevating our team.
Pressure on Julen Lopetegui before Brentford’s matchup with West Ham
Despite how devastating the loss to Liverpool was, they were clearly flattered by the 5-1 score
nevertheless, our defense remained a complete mess, and if we want to defeat Brentford on Saturday, that has to change.
Real questions are already being asked of Lopetegui, regarding whether he is the man we actually need at the helm.
The last thing he needs is a trip to one of our bogey teams on Saturday.
And now the pressure has really been cranked up a notch.
According to sports journalist Roshane Thomas, the Hammers now need to win this Saturday’s match against Brentford.
Twelve goals have been given up by West Ham in their past four games. It needs to be turned around by Lopetegui. The game against Brentford must be won.
He must start Carlos Soler and Lucas Paqueta in central midfield ahead of Edson Alvarez or Guido Rodriguez if he want to play a possession-based system.
Lopetegui needs to start Jean-Clair Todibo over Konstantinos Mavropanos as well, in order to instill a more ball-playing approach.
But if he decides to take a more counter-attacking, deep-blocking approach, the lineup must be adjusted to include players like Mavropanos at the back, two holding midfielders, and a front three full of strength and speed.
At the moment, it all looks so random, and there doesn’t seem to be any sort of strategy, direction, or playing style among the participants.
The pressure on Julen Lopetegui to turn things around at West Ham fast will increase if the team loses to Brentford.
