West Ham’s dreadful draw to Everton surely puts Julen Lopetegui on the brink.
Today’s match between West Ham and Everton always had the possibility of being a low-scoring affair, but what spectators witnessed is quite possibly the most boring game of the season
Despite keeping a rare clean sheet, things couldn’t have been much worse for the Hammers from a performance perspective. West Ham failed to register a shot for the opening half hour of the clash, something that happened against Nottingham Forest as well.
While it was certainly a slight improvement from that game, until the final ten minutes there were very few opportunities for the Irons.
Everton have by far the worst possession stats in the league, yet they managed to have more of the ball than the hosts – an abysmal stat.
There was a big difference between the two sides, and that’s that the Toffees have a clear style of play which West Ham lack completely. There’s no denying that the Irons’ squad is considerably better, but that doesn’t matter when there is no identity.
Jordan Pickford was forced to make a couple of sensational stops, notably a 93rd minute shot from Danny Ings which he really had no right to keep out. However, a win wouldn’t have represented a fair result – if any other side played our Irons then it would have been an embarrassing defeat, much like the weekend prior.
Whether or not he gets sacked, this is an abysmal result for Julen Lopetegui and an even worse performance. Fans are starting to lose their patience and things simply must improve or he will find his position is untenable. The Boos spoke a thousand words, it’s time for the Spaniard to respond on the pitch.
When substituted in the cup win over Bournemouth, Alvarez was caught on camera reacting very angrily towards the manager. He continued to vent about being brought off as he made his way to sit on the bench.
Alvarez had to walk right past Lopetegui when he was red carded at Forest. But they both blanked one another.
Lucas Paqueta has been seen shaking his head at Lopetegui when subbed too.
Now three more key stars have shown there is clear discontent in the ranks.
Lopetegui surprised the entire stadium by bringing off Michail Antonio and Aaron Wan-Bissaka when needing a win against Everton.
As cameras zoomed in on Guido Rodriguez, the midfielder – who was subbed off after 35 minutes of a defeat to Chelsea earlier in the season – looked in disbelief as he too was brought off.
Cameras followed Rodriguez as he left the pitch and he proceeded to walk past the manager before angrily booting a bottle away.
As Antonio was walking off he looked incredulous and totally despondent. The striker had done pretty well all things considered and was understandably surprised at his withdrawal.
Wan-Bissaka was one of Lopetegui’s most baffling subs yet.
He was shaking his head and muttering to himself wearing an angry scowl.
Of course players are going to be annoyed coming off. You wouldn’t necessarily want it any other way.
But the fact they don’t respect the manager and his decisions speaks volumes
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