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West Ham news: Opinion – “Belief fading” at Lopetegui
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West Ham news: Opinion – “Belief fading” at Lopetegui

I feel sorry for most football managers because they can’t legislate for small errors in performance.

As for West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, it’s safe to say he hasn’t had much time, but he hasn’t really shown much during that time to give people any belief that change will happen in the future.

Listening to those associated with the club, after David Moyes they wanted to see a manager who brought something different and as things stand the only difference is probably inconsistency.

This is not what West Ham were looking for.

They spent money this summer to bring in Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but none of those players were consistently good for them or helped them become a better team .

I would compare West Ham to Jekyll and Hyde at the moment. They won this weekend, then they went to Leicester and they came away with a 3-1 defeat.

There is no good pattern that forms and the belief fades. I’m not saying the players are losing confidence, but what will it take for the fans to believe in Lopetegui now?

Fans just want consistency. They don’t think they should win the championship or finish in the top four, but with the talent they have, they should do better than they currently are.

There have been many question marks over Lopetegui’s team selections and tactics since his arrival.

They don’t really score enough goals, they concede too many and they haven’t been competitive in the games they should have been in. Many fans become anxious because of this.

You would think he would have already found a formula that works given his previous experience.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport’s Katie Stafford