It will not be lost on fans of West Ham United that before he was sacked on Wednesday, Julen Lopetegui’s final game in charge – the end of a sorry, already regretted reign – came with David Moyes watching from the stands.

It will also not be lost on them that Lopetegui’s last days at the club passed amid talk of a rift between him and technical director Tim Steidten, who decided to step away from the training ground to, according to West Ham, concentrate on this month’s transfer window.

Lopetegui was supposed to be a significant upgrade on Moyes, who was let go last summer when his contract expired. The Spaniard was meant to transform West Ham’s football and take them to another level.

Instead the appointment has proved to be a mistake from the start. The four goals they conceded in losing to Manchester City last weekend at the Etihad Stadium, where Moyes was a guest, caused their 10th defeat in just 22 games. It was the ninth time they had let in at least three goals. And all this after a huge summer spending spree.

Lopetegui was close to going in late November, before he pulled off a surprise win away at Newcastle United, and again in early December. He has epitomised the ‘dead man walking’ phrase that was memorably applied to Claudio Ranieri following Roman Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea in 2003.

There were more ironies for the Irons in that it was a defeat inflicted by Leicester City, and their new head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, which led to another board meeting to discuss Lopetegui’s future. And it was a rare win against his former club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, that saved Lopetegui – for another five games, at least.

Following his departure as interim head coach of Manchester United, replaced by a man West Ham had wanted last summer in Ruben Amorim, Van Nistelrooy was keen to become a No 1. Talks were held about West Ham but they held off and he went to Leicester instead.

West Ham spoke to other candidates and it is understood they, unlike Graham Potter, were not prepared to take the job initially only until the end of this campaign.

‘Big noise’ became a whimper

Lopetegui had proclaimed that West Ham would make a “big noise” under him and urged fans to wait until May before judging. Unfortunately most of that noise was booing and abuse and he did not even make it through the second week of 2025.

So where did it all go wrong? The truth is Lopetegui was never the right appointment. He was, unfortunately, something of a compromise candidate but one who never gained much popularity within or outside of the club.

At Lopetegui’s presentation in July, Steidten declared he was the club’s first choice. But Lopetegui never had enough allies or a power base. He was always on shifting sands with questions being asked over his methods and man-management – as early as pre-season – while even his body language has been questioned. He did not have the personality to win people around.

It should also be remembered that although West Ham claim he was their preference over someone like Amorim (though talk is this was a long-shot), they were not his. Lopetegui lobbied hard to succeed Stefano Pioli at AC Milan. However, the Serie A club did not proceed amid fan protests and the hashtag ‘Nopetegui’ going viral on social media. The supporters objected to his style of play.

How prescient that proved.

After Moyes, West Ham fans expected a change in style with more expansive football and a fresher, younger approach. But Lopetegui – at 58 just three years younger than Moyes – was never the coach to deliver that. In Seville, Lopetegui was known as ‘Amara-tegui’ – a nickname that mixed Spanish and Italian but was certainly not a compliment. It basically equated to the belief that Lopetegui was primarily a defensively-minded manager who ‘parked the bus’.

But he did not even achieve that at West Ham. Only Leicester, Southampton and Wolves have conceded more than their 39 goals in the league, in just 20 fixtures – almost two goals a game – as Lopetegui has chopped and changed his team and appeared unsure of what his best XI is or, even more importantly, how he even wanted them to play.

It followed a summer of recruitment with nine signings, which understandably raised expectations. But Lopetegui never really integrated them or appeared to trust all of them.

He took the title head coach and although signings were overseen by Steidten he also had a say.

It led to a mish-mash, with some players wanted by the club, such as Crysencio Summerville for an initial £25 million, who has struggled for game-time, and others by the coach, including Max Kilman for £40 million and Guido Rodríguez.

Lopetegui had pushed hard for Aston Villa’s Jhon Durán only to accept Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund, for £27 million, even though the 31-year-old German is a very different striker. And one who has been injured for most of the season and has admitted the move has not worked out so far.

Luis Guilherme, a £25 million signing from Palmeiras, is yet to start a game.

At the same time the average age of the team has been driven up. Which is never a good idea when spending so much money.

That has not helped. Nor has the fact that West Ham’s downward trajectory has been happening since last January, under Moyes, when they won only five of their 25 matches in all competitions to the end of the season.

It was a big job to turn things around but that is why the money was spent and the new coach hired.

Ponderous methods

The mitigation only goes so far and Lopetegui’s conservative, ponderous coaching methods also came under scrutiny. Training was not fun and team meetings were said to be turgid and uninspiring. A bit like the football.

It is also not unfair to say that the players simply did not take to Lopetegui or his staff and there was more than one heated exchange in the dressing room.

One of the biggest red flags for West Ham has been the form of their three biggest names and, previously, most reliable players: Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta. Bowen, the captain, had improved significantly of late and at times looked as if he is carrying the team but the others have continued to struggle.

Unfortunately Bowen is now injured and West Ham hope to sign a striker this week. It appears that deal has not involved Lopetegui.

There was consultation between the club and senior players over how things have been going under him. This is not unusual at a struggling club but was another red flag. It hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement of the coach and that was widely known around West Ham, with Lopetegui himself understood to have picked up on it.

He has limped along since as early as September – probably not the nicest verb to use considering he damaged his calf during the chastening 5-1 Carabao Cup defeat by Liverpool at Anfield that month. He only survived this long because West Ham’s hierarchy has a track record of trying to see through a season with the manager before reviewing his future. They also invested heavily in him and there is the issue of compensation for him and his Spanish backroom staff of five coaches.

That resolve has been continually tested especially as 14th-placed West Ham have gradually been sucked towards the relegation places with Wolves and Ipswich Town improving.

Plus there is the FA Cup third round tie at Aston Villa on Friday – another irony as they are managed by Unai Emery who also held talks with West Ham several years ago – and that competition offers West Ham their only hope of silverware or saving an uninspiring season.

Now it is over for Lopetegui. Some appointments never appear to be a good fit. None more so than his unhappy tenure at West Ham.