Van Nistelrooy’s Perfect Start Piles Pressure On Lopetegui

Julen Lopetegui’s future as West Ham United manager looked even more uncertain in the wake of their 3-1 defeat at Leicester City on Tuesday but the Spaniard was determined to put the latest setback behind him and move forward.

Appointed at the start of the season to restore West Ham’s expansive playing style after several seasons of pragmatism under David Moyes, Lopetegui has failed to make the desired impact despite a flurry of signings to bolster the squad.

West Ham are 14th after suffering a seventh defeat in 14 Premier League matches but Lopetegui said he was not concerned about his own position.

“The only thing I’m worried about now is to go to tomorrow’s training session and encourage the players and prepare for the next challenge,” he said after the match.

Lopetegui’s side endured a frustrating evening against Leicester, managing only a stoppage-time consolation goal despite having 31 goal attempts, nine corners and 55 touches inside the opposition penalty area.

“Normally, when you do what we did, you are going to win the match, but we didn’t do that and it’s hard to explain. It’s hard for the players, for us and for the fans,” Lopetegui told reporters.

“To change this situation, we have to play as we did for 65 or 70 minutes with this attitude. It’s the only way that I know to change the situation, to create a lot of chances, to be able to play in the opponents’ half but we need to do better.”

Lopetegui made his name at Sevilla, securing three consecutive top-four finishes and winning the Europa League before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He guided Wolves from the foot of the Premier League to a mid-table finish in 2022-23 but left after only nine months in charge as fell out with the club over their transfer policy.

Wolves are West Ham’s next opponent, with the sides due to meet at the London Stadium on Monday.