Julen Lopetegui has revealed he was surprised with West Ham United’s decision to part ways with him.
Friday’s edition of AS has published an interview with the 58-year-old where the majority of the focus was on the Hammers.
West Ham appointed the Spaniard as their manager after David Moyes stepped down at the end of last season.
The Premier League club reportedly invested around €144m on new players last summer. They weren’t able to obtain the desired results under Lopetegui, winning six of their 20 league games.
Back in January, West Ham parted ways with the Spaniard and appointed Graham Potter as his successor. Two months after his departure, AS asked Lopetegui to assess his exit from the club
At the time, we felt disappointed. The team was where it should have been, understanding the circumstances,” he said.
“The second half of the season was going to be better. The team was 13th and had a chance of finishing ninth or 10th, which I think is where we should be. That was the idea of the first year.”
When asked if he was ‘surprised’ with the sacking, Lopetegui explained: “Yes, because we had the commitment of the players. West Ham is a club with different shareholders, and we had a very good relationship with all of them. No one told us we were in danger.”
Tim Steidten was West Ham’s technical director when the former Sevilla manager was in London. Claims in the UK had then stated Lopetegui had a fallout with the German.
On Steidten, he said: “I’ve always had a good relationship with all the sporting directors I’ve been in. I’ve been a club man. That’s why I prefer to ignore that person [Steidten], to be honest.”
AS points out Niclas Füllkrug’s injury, Michail Antonio’s accident, a few red cards to other players. They then state ‘everything that could, went wrong’ at West Ham for Lopetegui.
Responding to this, he added: “And Bowen missing a few games, who was essential. A lot happened to us. We had two consecutive red cards for Kudus and Edson Álvarez, three and five games in a row. Füllkrug’s injury happened as soon as we arrived and lasted three or four months. And yet, after 18 games, we had 23 points.”
West Ham are currently 16th in the table with 33 points from 28 matches. The newspaper states clubs go through a ‘downward’ trend after Lopetegui’s exit. He then explains the reason for disappointment over West Ham exit.
“It’s happened, and you’re left wondering what would have happened if he had stayed there. The truth is, we’ve always had the players’ conviction. That’s why we were angry and sad about West Ham,” he said.
