West Ham board ‘foolish’ to sack Lopetegui – O’Rourke
West Ham are not considering sacking Julen Lopetegui at this stage despite a slow start to the season, sources have told Football Insider.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, senior correspondent Pete O’Roruke revealed that there has been no panic from the Hammers’ board yet and they remain set to back the manager.
O’Rourke went on to insist that sacking the boss after just five games would be a “foolish” call by the board after working hard to bring him to the club in the summer.
After having faced both Aston Villa and Man City in their opening four Premier League outings, sources say Lopetegui still has time to turn their form around.
However, the boss has received heavy backing from the board in the transfer market and is under growing pressure to deliver results on the pitch.
Those two defeats, alongside a win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and a draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage, have seen West Ham take just four points from four games.
West Ham board make Julen Lopetegui sack decision
Following the departure of David Moyes at the end of last season, the board pushed hard to convince Lopetegui to make the move to East London after extensive talks.
The board spent big in the summer transfer window to help the new boss mould the squad in his image following Moyes’ exit.
A total of £132.5million was spent, with the £40million signing of Max Kilman from Wolves completed on Lopetegui’s orders after their time together at Wolves.
Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug, Luis Guilherme, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Guido Rodriguez, Jean-Clair Todibo, Carlos Soler and Wes Foderingham also arrived at the London Stadium to help shape their new-look squad.
Meanwhile, Flynn Downes, Nathan Trott, Ben Johnson, Angelo Ogbonna, Divin Mubama, Nayef Aguerd, James Ward-Prowse, Kurt Zouma and Maxwel Cornet departed his squad.
After such an overhaul in the summer, West Ham are prepared to give the boss and his new signings time to gel, but are demanding results match their investment.
After a slow start to the season, pressure on the boss has begun to grow, and while the board are keen not to jump into any rash decisions, their hand could be forced.
With games against Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man United in their next six, Lopetegui will need to pull off some impressive results to win back favour.
In other news, Liverpool’s two priority January signings have been revealed by our sources.
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