West Ham United’s next fixture could be a decisive one for Julen Lopetegui, as his side take on Everton in the Premier League. The Hammers currently sit 14th in the league on 11 points, winning three times, drawing twice, and losing on five occasions in the opening ten games.
Everton are currently sitting 16th in the Premier League, acquiring nine points from their opening fixtures. The Hammers lost in this fixture last season, with Everton beating them 1-0 at home before West Ham replied with a 3-1 win at Goodison Park.
West Ham take on the Toffees this weekend at the London Stadium, and a loss could be enough to get Lopetegui the sack after his poor start to the new campaign, despite being heavily backed in the transfer market this summer.
Lopetegui's reign so far
The 58-year-old has had an array of jobs around Spain, Portugal and England now, most notably managing Real Madrid, Porto, Sevilla, Wolves, and the Spanish National team, all before his appointment as West Ham boss.
Lopetegui’s longest reign came in his time at Sevilla, taking charge of 170 matches and averaging a points-per-match ratio of 1.85.
In this time, the Spaniard managed to win the UEFA Europa League in the 2019/20 season, beating Inter Milan 3-2 in the final.
Rayo Vallecano
2
0.50
RM Castilla
38
1.66
Spain U20
11
2.45
Spain U19
18
2.44
Spain U21
19
2.89
FC Porto
78
2.24
Spain
20
2.40
Real Madrid
14
1.43
Sevilla
170
1.85
Wolves
27
1.30
The Spanish manager’s biggest failure was his job at Real Madrid, only managing 14 games in charge before he was replaced by Santiago Solari. Real Madrid went on to finish third in La Liga that season (2018/19), never truly recovering from their poor start under Lopetegui.
But the possession-based coach ended up at West Ham after a successful spell with Sevilla, and a good short stint with Wolves, where he managed to average +50% possession with a bottom-half side in the Premier League, which was seemingly a big reason Lopetegui got the job for the Hammers.
Despite improving West Ham’s possession numbers, going from an average of 40.5% last season to an average of 44.9% this season (a rise of 4.4%), the overall level of performance has been poor, and a loss against Everton at the weekend could be enough to tip the scales, and see Lopetegui sacked after just a few months in charge.
Potential replacements are already being linked, and one man who could be on West Ham’s radar, would be following suit with the most recent Premier League appointment, Ruben Amorim of Manchester United, in trading Portugal for England.
Notably linked with the Irons over the summer, he’s now heading in the direction of Old Trafford.
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West Ham could hire manager from Portugal
According to reports from talkSPORT, West Ham are likely to make contact with Portuguese manager, Sergio Conceicao, if they do decide to sack Lopetegui.
The ex-Porto boss has been described as “fantastic” by journalist Jerry Mancini, who further labelled him a “first-class manager”.
The 49-year-old has managed Olhanense, Coimbra, SC Braga, Vitoria Guimaraes, FC Nantes, and, of course, FC Porto. Conceicao spent seven years in charge of Porto, managing 368 games, and averaging 2.29 points per game.
Conceicao often deploys a 4-2-3-1, with his wingers playing high and wide, his full-backs contributing on both sides of the ball, a more protective double pivot in central midfield, with a creative number ten, who can float and link play between the lines.
In their most recent season (2023/24), Porto averaged 63.6% possession, the highest in Liga Portugal, ahead of Benfica and league winners, Sporting.
This is a great sign for West Ham, as they would still be getting the type of manager they wanted to build towards a more possession-heavy side, who controls the tempo of a game.
This change could be a welcome one for West Ham fans, as not only would it freshen things up, and bring a better overall vibe around the club, but a few existing stars could thrive better in Conceicao’s system, which could see them return to top form.
Which players would benefit from Conceicao's appointment
The first big one who could benefit is attacking midfielder, Lucas Paqueta. The 27-year-old has made 12 appearances for Lopetegui so far this season, scoring two goals, but yet to provide an assist in his 787 minutes played.
The creative passing of Paqueta is one of, if not his best attributes, and getting the best out of him is likely to have a positive correlation with the success of the team.
In Conceicao’s system, Paqueta would play as the floating number ten, able to link play between the lines and find himself in pockets of space where he can affect the game, as opposed to having to come deeper to aid build-up in Lopetegui’s system.
From last season, Paqueta’s progressive carries, progressive passes, key passes, and shot-creating actions are all down, and by unleashing him in a more natural and free role, he could take West Ham’s level back up a notch.
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
Another player who could benefit from the appointment is 18-year-old midfielder, Lewis Orford, as Conceicao would want to add more mobility in the middle of the park, with a good blend of on-ball qualities in order to release Paqueta further forwards.
Alongside the other defensive midfield options such as Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez, and Tomas Soucek, it is likely Conceicao would want a more mobile duel winner, and the height, mobility, and press resistance of Orford could be a brilliant profile to bring into the fray for the Portuguese coach.
Overall, the 49-year-old would be a very astute appointment for the Hammers, bringing in an experienced manager, who has implemented possession football at previous clubs, and has the character to match.
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