West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui reportedly had a ‘heated exchange’ with £35million summer recruit Jean-Clair Todibo.
The clash is said to have taken place as as the Hammers were trailing Arsenal 5-2 at half-time in a Premier League humiliation at the London Stadium. The alleged verbal altercation took place as Arsenal ripped through West Ham in a ruthless first-half performance.
Luckily for Lopetegui, the scoreline didn’t worsen, but it was a crushing defeat that added to a dreadful start to the season. A subsequent 3-1 defeat at Leicester on Tuesday night has left the Spanish boss teetering on the edge of dismissal.
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West Ham currently sit 14th in the Premier League with four victories and seven losses from their opening 14 games. As per the Daily Mail, Lopetegui and Todibo had a ‘heated exchange’ during half-time.
However, it’s reported this confrontation wasn’t the reason for the defender’s absence from the squad that lost against Leicester. The 24-year-old continued to play the rest of the match against Arsenal.
(Image: Jimmy Griffiths/West Ham)
However, a groin injury prevented him from making the trip to the Midlands this week, and it initially looked set to sideline him for the Gunners’ visit, reports the Express. The lacklustre performance against Leicester led to West Ham fans chanting: “You’re getting sacked in the morning!”
Lopetegui was already feeling the heat before West Ham’s trip to the East Midlands. A 2-0 away win over Newcastle on Monday, November 25 had hinted the former Real Madrid and Spain manager was nearing a turnaround. However, his team have now suffered back-to-back defeats.
Co-owner David Sullivan has a reputation for sticking with managers during tough times, having kept faith in David Moyes amid some rocky periods in East London. However, there are whispers of ‘internal doubts’ about whether the 58-year-old will stay at the helm for the upcoming matches against his old team Wolves and then Bournemouth.
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Lopetegui took over in the summer as Moyes’ successor. The Hammers splashed out roughly £120m on new talent for the first-team squad, bringing in players like Todibo, German forward Niclas Fullkrug, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and the £40m Max Kilman.
“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,” Lopetegui remarked regarding his future after the loss to Leicester.
“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.”