Julen Lopetegui is a man under pressure as West Ham gear up to face Ipswich at the London Stadium this weekend.
When West Ham were looking at their opening sequence of Premier League fixtures, the home game against Ipswich was marked as a banker.
But the Tractor Boys have acquitted themselves well for the most part so far.
And their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last time out showed they will be far from easy for Julen Lopetegui’s side.
The West Ham head coach knows he must get a win in the match.
The Hammers have just one league win from six games so far and a host of terrible statistics are following Lopetegui around like a bad smell.
West Ham’s board has already told Lopetetgui that games against Brentford and Ipswich are ‘huge’.
Negative narrative around West Ham continues
So the 57-year-old is under no illusions after only picking up a point against an injury-ravaged Bees side.
That game saw West Ham’s manager criticised once again over his tactics, line-up and substitutions.
There has been plenty of controversy over some of his calls too.
Lopetegui raised eyebrows by subbing off West Ham’s Holy Trinity Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen.
That has divided opinion among some supporters. Many like that Lopetegui is not afraid to make big calls and challenge star players.
But Kudus had arguably been West Ham’s brightest player in the first half before being brought off at half-time.
Distressing new claim about West Ham manager change plans
Tony Cascarino was at the game and said he believes there is unrest between Lopetegui and star players in the dressing room.
He also thinks the Irons have regressed under the new manager.
Since then it has emerged that Kudus and Lopetegui had a blazing row in the dressing room at half-time.
There has already been talk that Lopetegui is under pressure to keep his job in the next month or so.
David Sullivan has a reputation for not being a ‘hirer and firer’ of managers. The fact Lopetegui is only West Ham’s 18th manager in their entire 129-year history suggests the same is true of the club as a whole.
That is not always necessarily a good trait of course. The Avram Grant season being a case in point.
The periods leading into October and November international breaks are notoriously ominous for struggling Premier League managers.
Lopetegui is certainly among that group right now.
But a journalist has made a distressing new claim about West Ham manager change plans.
Journalist Graeme Bailey recently claimed technical director Tim Steidten warned Sullivan off appointing Lopetegui.
Bailey said Steidten wanted to go in a different direction to Lopetegui and Moyes.
Hammers stick by Lopetegui ‘for now’ because there’s no Plan B
Ironically some fans have since dubbed their new boss ‘a Spanish Moyes’.
It was claimed Sullivan wanted Lopetegui after being impressed by him in interview. And while Steidten and the rest of the board agreed, initially the German wanted a different style of boss.
In an ideal world West Ham beat Ipswich well and go into the international break in a positive mindset.
That could help turn the tide – and it will need to because games against the likes of Spurs and Man United loom after it.
If things go even further south for Lopetegui, though, the pressure will ramp up massively.
Then the big question will be asked, how long should the Hammers hierarchy leave it before intervening?
Some feel it would be worse to waste a season under a manager for whom things are just not working out.
Others believe he needs at least six months to get things going after such a big turnaround of players in the summer.
Whatever happens one thing you would expect from a Premier League club is that they will have contingency plans in mind.
‘There are signs of friction’
That’s just sensible and prudent.
What Give Me Sport journalist Dean Jones has claimed today, though, is concerning.
Jones says West Ham are sticking with the Spaniard ‘for now’.
But only because they have no Plan B in place.
Jones also claims there is friction in the Hammers camp.
“West Ham look set to stick with Lopetegui for now,” Jones said on X.
“There are signs of friction in the camp and results/performances have not been good enough.
“But they (West Ham’s owners) do not have an obvious Plan B to turn to and Lopetegui is likely to get a chance to turn things around.”
West Ham look set to stick with Lopetegui for now
There are signs of friction in the camp and results/performances have not been good enough
But they do not have an obvious Plan B to turn to and Lopetegui is likely to get a chance to turn things around
— Dean Jones (@DeanJonesSoccer) October 1, 2024
It would be ludicrous to sack Lopetegui this early on.
But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t find himself under pressure.
When a club appoints a new manager they clearly don’t plan for it not to work out.
What they must do, though, is have clear contingency plans in place just in case it doesn’t.
And more important still, the club must not be afraid to implement that back-up plan should it become obvious to one and all that change is needed after a fair amount of time.
The way Lopetegui can get rid of the noise around West Ham and his future is simple.
Win football matches, starting with Ipswich.
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