Lopetegui sacked by West Ham: Where did it all go wrong?

Julen Lopetegui has been relieved of his duties at West Ham, less than seven months into his two-year contract.

A club statement read: “The first half of the 2024/25 season has not aligned with the Club’s ambitions and the Club has therefore taken action in line with its objectives.

“The Board would like to thank Julen and his staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future. The process of appointing a replacement is underway.”

Brought in over the summer to replace David Moyes, the former Real Madrid and Spain national team manager never quite got the Hammers on song, despite heavy summer transfer investment.

After winning just one of his first six league matches in charge, Lopetegui’s side won 23 points from 20 games, leaving West Ham languishing in 14th place in the table.

A 4-1 loss away to Manchester City and 5-0 dismantling at the hands of Liverpool proved a double blow, confirming a sacking which has been looming for several weeks, but where did it all go wrong for Lopetegui?

Slow season start incites panic among fans

The key to any new manager’s success is winning over the fans. For Lopetegui, who won just one of his first six Premier League matches, he was playing catch up from the off.

It was not a straightforward introduction, opening against Aston Villa before facing both Manchester City and Chelsea in early matchdays. That is not to say there were no winnable matches: a first league win over Crystal Palace was in stark contrast to a pair of 1-1 draws away to Fulham and Brentford. A loss to newly promoted Leicester and a skin-of-the-teeth Boxing Day win over Southampton did little to comfort.

To take just five points from his first six matches with tactical adjustments yielding little progress, supporters quickly began to lose patience. With results not looking up and line ups becoming increasingly scattered, fans were left with little to be optimistic about.

Hard to measure up to Moyes?

After leading West Ham to European glory in the Conference League, Moyes was always going to be a tough act to follow, regardless of the sour end to his reign.

When he signed for West Ham, Lopetegui joined a club with newly raised expectations. Newfound continental success meant West Ham supporters considered themselves European contenders, and expected to be fighting for top-six Premier League finishes.

And with raised expectations comes heightened impatience. Like it or not, Lopetegui would always be measured against Moyes.

After 20 games last season, Moyes’ West Ham sat sixth on 34 points, eight positions and 11 points ahead of Lopetegui’s standing at the same point, leading board and supporters alike to consider the managerial change a backwards step.

The lack of proposed tactical solutions did not help his case.

Failure to capitalise on summer spending

West Ham’s summer saw a comprehensive squad overhaul, featuring the removal of underperforming players including Nayef Aguerd and James Ward-Prowse, and bringing in highly rated talents of Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug, and Max Kilman.

Lopetegui struggled to get the best out of the newcomers.

An ever-changing line up prevented players from settling and the side as a whole from building much momentum, winning consecutive matches just once this season.

This was evident against Leicester. In a seemingly must-win match, Danny Ings, who scored just once in 28 appearances last season, was favoured as a striker while Summerville and Fullkrug warmed the bench.

There is an evident lack of trust from Lopetegui in the talent at his disposal.

Porous defence

West Ham have shipped 44 goals in 22 matches under Lopetegui, an average of two per match, and kept just five clean sheets.

To concede nine goals in the space of a week to Manchester City and Liverpool highlighted the team’s struggles.

Sitting high and narrow, the Hammers were exploited all too easily, an evident theme throughout the early season.

They have conceded five to Arsenal and Liverpool, four to Tottenham, and three each to Manchester City and Chelsea, with few signs of improvement on the way.

Noise and distractions from Paqueta and Antonio

Lopetegui was made to deal with the distracting conversation surrounding Lucas Paqueta’s betting allegations. The Brazilian has been accused of deliberately getting himself booked so he and others could benefit from betting on it, a charge he has vehemently denied.

The 27-year-old is facing a possible ban and constant conversation surrounding his future at the club.

The noise surrounding Lopetegui and the club grew even louder following Michail Antonio’s December car accident, which saw him rushed into surgery on a broken leg. The 34-year-old striker has been at West Ham since 2015, scoring 83 goals in 323 appearances, and the accident served as yet another diversion as Lopetegui searched for an answer to the Hammer’s goalscoring struggles.

As the club struggled on the pitch, the noise proved another distracting factor for an already unsettled team, and another plate for an overwhelmed manager to juggle.

Who is next in line?

All signs seem to point to Graham Potter making a hotly anticipated return to the technical area for the first time since his high-profile departure from Chelsea in spring 2023.

The former Brighton boss has been out of work for over a year and reportedly dodged interest from Ajax, Manchester United and Everton while out of work, but seems set to take over the struggling Hammers, where his mild-mannered persona and hands-on coaching will help to settle squad and supporters alike.

Reports say he has signed a long-term contract through 2027.

West Ham also reportedly considered Edin Terzic, Kasper Hjulmand, Roger Schmidt, and Sebastian Hoeness before landing on Potter.