Shay Given believes that Julen Lopetegui will get West Ham “up the table” by the end of the season.
The Irons have had a tough start to their 2024/25 campaign and have performed well below what was expected of them as they find themselves fourteenth in the Premier League.
They managed to scrape a point in their last Premier League clash against Fulham after Danny Ings scored a last-gasp equaliser but aside from that, they’ve failed to perform to a high standard.
Speaking on the Football Daily Podcast (16 September, 22:15) Given shared his thoughts on the slow start at the London Stadium.
“The new manager has come in and I suppose the West Ham fans are thinking it’s going to be sort of free-flowing football, attacking football and lots of goals, lots of chances and positive results and that’s not the case,” he said.
“What you would say with any new manager is that they have to be given time, it’s been a slow start for Lopetegui but you would think with his pedigree that he’ll get them free-scoring and up the table.”
West Ham to find Premier League form
As Given said, the Hammers’ start has been rather slow. While they have had a tough start to the season, they have managed to get points against Crystal Palace and Fulham.
However, it’s against the bigger clubs such as Manchester City and Aston Villa where their performances need to improve.
Lopetegui’s goal before the start of the season was to get the Hammers back into Europe, but at this rate, he’s going to finish lower than the ninth-place David Moyes managed last term.
Sure, new arrival Niclas Fullkrug is sidelined due to injury but even before he was ruled out, the Spaniard was choosing to start the likes of Michail Antonio and Tomas Soucek over the German and Lucas Paqueta.
If things don’t turn around soon and Lopetegui continues to choose against starting his new arrivals such as Jean Clair-Todibo, things could get quite sticky for the club as the season goes on.
All these simple decisions are leading to the Hammers’ failure to compete in the Premier League and are hindering the progress they’d like to make.
