A top Sky Sports analyst armed with data says Julen Lopetegui is a perfect fit for West Ham after all the press negativity.
After weeks of silence from West Ham out of respect to David Moyes, Julen Lopetegui has now been officially unveiled as the club’s new head coach.
The Spaniard will not have been able to hide from the negative press that has hung over his appointment.
Reaction, on the whole, towards Lopetegui’s arrival at West Ham has been pretty damning.
Hearing some journalists, pundits and Hammers fans speak lately, you would not think West Ham were appointing a former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla manager as their new boss.
There has been no red carpet treatment for a man who has many doubters to win over.
Lopetegui arrives with a point to prove
A section of West Ham fans are unconvinced by Lopetegui.
And media reporting of the appointment has been so scathing it prompted Hammers News to ask ‘can anybody find Lopetegui somebody to love’ this week.
The 57-year-old’s compatriot Guillem Balague has at times been a lone voice defending West Ham’s 18th permanent manager in 129 years.
Now he has an ally. And one heavily armed with statistics at that.
A top Sky Sports analyst says Lopetegui is a perfect fit for West Ham.
Adam Bate is Sky Sports’ leading analyst.
Top Sky Sports analyst says Lopetegui is perfect for West Ham
Earlier this season Bate did a deep dive on Moyes’ style and why West Ham fans were justified in wanting better football.
Now he has produced an in-depth feature on why Lopetegui is the right man to take the Hammers forward.
Bate is surprised Lopetegui’s brief time at Wolves appears to be counting against him in the eyes of some supporters. And he says it should not.
The Sky Sports analyst has pointed out that Gary O’Neil was widely praised for guiding Wolves to a mid-table when relegation was regarded as a “risk” whereas when Lopetegui took charge, the risk was more than speculation – it was reality. Bottom at Christmas and five points from safety.
Bate also highlights the fact West Ham’s new head coach changed Wolves’ fortunes from his very first game and found eight more wins to transform their season, eventually finishing above Moyes’ West Ham in the table.
‘Steeped in style of teams that dominated world football’
“This is a coach steeped in the style of play that saw Spain dominate world football,” Bate says.
“He took the U19 and U21 sides to European titles, the latter won with Thiago Alcantara in midfield. It was easy for him to embrace this approach. It was one he had learned at Barcelona.
“A former Real Madrid goalkeeper, he was taken to Barca by Johan Cruyff in 1994. It was a defining moment in Lopetegui’s career because it changed his thinking. Speaking to him about this in his office last year, he explained the impact that Cruyff had on him.
“A return to football is overdue. Monchi, his sporting director at Sevilla, now working at Aston Villa, is known to be amazed that it has taken this long for a club to move for him. West Ham are the beneficiaries. Expect Lopetegui to bring the change that fans crave.”