Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham tenure has endured a rocky start.
The East London club languish in 15th place after a disastrous 4-1 thrashing against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Despite spending around £120m in the summer on players like Niclas Fullkrug, Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Crysensio Summerville, they have failed to gel this season.
The Irons have only managed wins over Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town and only the Tractor Boys, Southampton and Wolves have conceded more than their 15 goals.
With this in mind, it is unsurprising that journalists are eyeing potential replacements for the Spaniard already, with Sky Sports Germany reporter, Florian Plettenberg suggesting former Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic as a suitor.
🚨⚒️ Former BVB coach Edin #Terzic is a candidate in case West Ham United decide to replace manager Julen Lopetegui ✔️
The 41y/o has a good reputation at #WHUFC, where he worked from 2015-2017 as assistant coach under Slaven Bilic.
Terzic is open to a new challenge and has also… pic.twitter.com/PrWGrpwWqO
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) October 22, 2024
West Ham also faces an uphill battle in their next game as they take on Manchester United and will have to do it without star player Mohammed Kudus, who received a lengthy ban after seeing red against Spurs for violent conduct.
It has been recently reported by The Guardian that Lopetegui is ‘not in imminent danger’ of facing the sack from the club, but I think Kudus’s red card could be a factor.
It’s too early to sack Lopetegui
Getting rid of a manager this early in the season is never a good look and is not conducive to creating a good culture and atmosphere in the dressing room.
Lopetegui needs to be given time to integrate his nine summer signings and allow the players to adapt to his style of play. This takes much longer than just eight Premier League games.
The majority of the team’s spine is changing, with Kilman and Todibo as the starting centre-backs, Wan-Bissaka starting at right back, and Guido Rodriguez in midfield.
Even players like Summerville and Luis Guilherme have played bit-part roles so far and have shown they have more to give this squad.
After they face Man United they have games against Nottingham Forest and Everton, and if they fail to pick up wins in those two games, fingers should start to be pointed.
