When Julen Lopetegui joined West Ham this summer, fans could have been forgiven for expecting a decent brand of football at the London Stadium this season.
After David Moyes’ dull and often boring approach had run its course, the Hammers needed a change, and who better to offer it than a guy who had previously managed the Spanish national team and Real Madrid.
Unfortunately for the Spaniard, things haven’t gone as planned.
Lopetegui to get a January surprise
They now reside in 13th place in the Premier League with 11 points after nine games. If that wasn’t awful enough, the football has been at least as sloppy as it was while Moyes was in charge, if not worse.
The summer spending spree by technical director Tim Steidten has undoubtedly exacerbated Lopetegui’s plight.
Fans, maybe understandably, anticipated that bringing in so many new players would improve West Ham’s fortunes, yet they have rapidly faded and died.
It takes time to integrate new players, and Lopetegui lacks that resource.
The true cost of Steidten’s spending has been revealed, and it isn’t good news for the management either.
According to Football Insider, there is unlikely to be any money to spend during the January transfer window.
For a club that claims to be progressive, they are still stuck in the footballing dark ages in many aspects.
If David Sullivan had paid an extra few million pounds in salary, he could have hired Ruben Amorim, who appears to have been Steidten’s preferred manager.
Instead, it appears that the chairman chose the cheaper option, and it has come back to bite him. Perhaps even quicker than he anticipated.
If Lopetegui remains in charge in January, he will need to work miracles to assure West Ham’s success in the second half of the 2024/25 season.
