Julen Lopetegui was appointed manager of West Ham at the end of May and just five months into his first season in charge, it looks as though the writing may be on the wall. The former Wolves manager welcomes his former side to the London Stadium on Monday night and could put the nail in the Spaniard's coffin.
There's no doubt about Lopetegui's reputation as an elite manager, with the Spaniard having managed Porto, Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla in his career; in his time in Seville, Lopetegui won the Europa League in 2020.
More recently, Lopetegui was in charge at Molineux, saving Wolves from relegation during the 2022-2023 season.
Despite being a goalkeeper in his playing career where he made appearances for Real Madrid and Barcelona, it looks like Lopetegui will struggle to save his first job in London.
After an embarrassing defeat to Leicester and a hefty loss to Arsenal, in which the Gunners netted five goals in the first half in East London, the West Ham faithful are calling for thier manager's head.
So where has it all gone wrong for Lopetegui? He led the Hammers to memorable victories at home to Manchester United and away to Newcastle United.
The most obvious issue is the subpar defence. It must be stated that this was a recurring issue under previous manager David Moyes, with whom West Ham had the worst defence of any of the 17 surviving clubs last season. In fact, West Ham conceded just four less than relegated Burnley, despite the Hammers themselves finishing ninth.
Simply put, this issue hasn't been resolved. West Ham have conceded the fourth most goals in the top flight this season, with two of the three clubs to have conceded more sitting in the bottom three.
Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were brought in to try to amend the defensive struggles, but while Wan-Bissaka has been great going forward, the Hammers are still conceding far too many goals.
On top of the issues on the pitch, there are reportedly issues between Todibo and his manager off the pitch, with the centre-back allegedly ruthlessly attacking Lopetegui's tactics after their derby-pummelling by Arsenal.
Off the pitch issues arguably meant that Lopetegui was walking into a tough job in the first place, with several West Ham fans upset about the decision not to renew David Moyes' contract. This was the man who brought a European trophy (although not a prestigious one) to East London.
Personalities have seemingly clashed, with several players disapproving of Lopetegui's appointment, including Guido Rodriguez who was signed by the Spaniard in the Summer.
It seems unlikely that the disparity in the squad and the woeful defensive performances aren't connected.
Lopetegui was considered one of the best available managers in the European market this Summer, especially given his experience with Real Madrid and his native Spain.
But given how obvious it was that West Ham needed defensive improvements, it's somewhat unforgivable that the Hammers' manager has been unable to improve the situation by any significant margin.
Failure to beat relegation rivals Wolves may well spell trouble for Lopetegui, if not a firm boot out of the London Stadium doors.
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