The pressure has piled back on Julen Lopetegui after West Ham’s shambolic 4-1 Premier League defeat to bitter rivals Tottenham.
The Hammers went into the October international break off the back of a much needed 4-1 win over Ipswich.
That cooled some of the heat on Julen Lopetegui after the hugely disappointing start to his West Ham tenure.
Media spotlight had shifted from the Spaniard to Tottenham Hotspur and Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs’ spectacular collapse from 2-0 up at half-time to lose 3-2 at Brighton making sure of that.
But as the Premier League got back underway with West Ham’s trip to Tottenham, the pressure has once again shifted to east London.
Things looked to be going well as the Hammers took a 1-0 lead through Mohammed Kudus with 18 minutes on the lock.
The Hammers star boy celebrated in trademark style by taking a seat at the side of the pitch.
He would end it taking a seat in the dressing room on his own after being sent off for catching Micky van de Ven with a push to the face.
The manner of West Ham’s defeat to their fiercest Premier League rivals is alarming.
After similarly insipid and spineless displays against Chelsea and Liverpool, questions are being asked of the manager yet again.
West Ham’s nine-word response to big Lopetegui question
Lopetegui has now lost his best player for at least three games.
Although top former referee Mike Dean has claimed Kudus will be banned for SIX games.
Hammers fans are far from happy with the result and performance.
And many are now raising serious doubts over their new head coach.
As speculation swirls yet again, Hammers News has spoken exclusively to the top source close to the owners.
Now West Ham have issued a nine-word response to the big Lopetegui question after the Spurs shambles.
It was put to the top senior London Stadium source that such a collapse against a big rival is unacceptable.
Hammers News also put it to the senior source that Lopetegui has his work cut out to win fans over.
Especially as supporters left in their thousands 15 minutes before the end. And not for the first time this season.
Hammers response is understatement after Spurs shambles
The top spokesman close to the owners told Hammers News: “It was a very bad day at the office.”
You can say that again.
If this was an office the manager would be on a warning that’s for sure.
Of course Lopetegui was always going to need time after a 21-player turnaround in the summer.
The simple fact of the matter is that things shouldn’t be this bad after such a promising and exciting summer.
You would expect players to be desperate to impress a new manager.
That alone can usually be enough to get a few results.
A new manager is supposed to get some sort of reaction.
Things shouldn’t be this bad at West Ham
But thus far there is little sign of that at all.
Beating Ipswich and Crystal Palace, two of the bottom four, is hardly anything to write home about.
And the Palace win was extremely fortunate as the hosts could and should have been out of sight in that game.
West Ham fans have seen no real signs of a clear identity as yet.
Managers at other clubs have made their mark in terms of style of play from the get go.
Look at Fabian Hurzeler at Brighton or Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth.
Manchester United next weekend now becomes massive.
If Lopetegui does not pick up some wins between now and the November international break, it could give the owners a major decision to make.