West Ham announce manager departure
It has been an interesting few days at the London Stadium
West Ham have parted ways with manager Julen Lopetegui after just six months at the helm, with reports suggesting Graham Potter is in discussions to replace him.
During Lopetegui’s time in charge, the Hammers managed just six Premier League wins.
Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City marked their ninth loss in 20 league games this season, leaving the club 14th in the table, just seven points above the relegation zone.
Talks have reportedly taken place with Graham Potter, the ex-Chelsea and Brighton manager, over taking the job on a short-term basis.
How did we reach this point?
West Ham's next match is an FA Cup third-round clash against Aston Villa on Friday.
The pressure on Lopetegui began to mount after a heavy 5-2 defeat by Arsenal on 30 November, followed by another loss to fellow strugglers Leicester City just days later.
Although the team responded by going unbeaten in their next four games, including victories over Wolves and Southampton, a 5-0 drubbing at home to league leaders Liverpool and Saturday’s loss at Manchester City further highlighted their struggles.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the club was considering sacking Lopetegui, with Graham Potter emerging as a potential replacement. A scheduled news conference to preview Friday’s FA Cup tie was cancelled on Wednesday morning, hours before Lopetegui’s departure was confirmed.
Under Moyes, West Ham reached the Europa League quarter-finals and secured a ninth-place finish in the Premier League during his final season. The previous campaign also saw them lift the Europa Conference League trophy, a huge achievement for them.
Despite spending around £125m over the summer to strengthen the squad, Lopetegui endured a disappointing start to the season. In addition to their inconsistent league form, the Hammers were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the third round, following a heavy defeat to Liverpool.
West Ham sack manager - with former Chelsea boss expected to replace him
— SkyNews Unofficial (@skynewsrss.bsky.social) 8 January 2025 at 17:18
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The view of one West Ham fan
Lopetegui has not been sacked because our defence became terrible under him. It is because he did not improve the terrible defence he inherited.
We had the worst defence outside of the promoted sides last season and that is also the case this campaign. What has changed is our finishing and not being ruthless enough. Despite taking more shots, we have scored fewer goals this campaign.
We deserved to finish ninth last season because the team got the results to finish there, but we were probably not the ninth-best team in the league based on their underlying numbers. I think we all underestimated how good David Moyes was.
