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West Ham move for league-winning manager ‘hard to believe’ with Julen Lopetegui on brink

Dan Owen

Wed 4 December 2024 19:15, UK

Fortunately for West Ham United, the lure of the Premier League is such that managers used to operating at a higher level have frequently been convinced to take on a mid-table or relegation-battling gig.

🗹Carlo Ancelotti, after all, left Everton to take on a second spell at Real Madrid.

♔Unai Emery had guided Villarreal to a Champions League semi-final before arriving to clean up Steven Gerrard’s mess at Aston Villa. In Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace have a coach who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt as recently as 2022.

So perhaps it should not come as too much as a surprise to learn that the ཧWest Ham United job appeals to former Porto boss Sergio Conceicao.

TBR understands that Conceicao is genuinely tempted by the chance to replace Julen Lopetegui at the London Stadium. West Ham have discussed Roger Schmidt𒐪 and one-time assistant coach Edin Terzic, too, though Conceicao’s outstanding CV has made the ex-Portugal international the number one pick for many supporters.

Former Portugal ace doubts Sergio Conceicao’s West Ham switch

ꦯConceicao is a popular figure amongst some senior figures at West Ham too, TBR have been told.

ღThough Maniche, a former Portugal stalwart himself, still finds it difficult to imagine a coach who guided Porto to three Primeira Liga titles parachuting himself straight into the middle of a potential relegation battle.

🐲“I find it hard to believe that Sergio Conceicao would accept a club like West Ham, who are in 14th place, or Nantes,” Maniche, a key figure in the Portugal team stunned by Greece on their home European Championships in 2004, tells .

𒁏“[What he chooses next] depends a lot on what Sergio Conceicao wants for his career. To continue winning titles, as he did at FC Porto, or to save teams that are being relegated?

🔥“If he thinks he has been out of action for a long time and he can no longer do without coaching, that will also weigh on his decision,” adds Maniche, who had a brief spell at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho in 2006.

🐟“[But] what is certain is that, after what he won at FC Porto, I assume he is thinking about a team that fights for titles and not teams that are fighting to be relegated.”

♈Conceicao has often been likened to compatriot Jose Mourinho, and not only for those Porto connections and his enviable trophy record [11 in seven years as Porto boss].

⛄To quote Mourinho’s former assistant Jose Morais, via , Conceicao is ‘a quality coach, with charisma and a great personality’. Sound familiar?

Julen Lopetegui still fighting despite West Ham’s Leicester defeat

ꦓLopetegui, meanwhile, does not sound like a man ready to throw in the towel. He felt, and not without justification, that his West Ham team deserved something at the King Power Stadium.

It is telling that 🔴Ruud Van Nistelrooy hailed ‘outstanding’ Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen🅺, while also highlighting the heroics of central defenders Conor Coady and Jannik Vestergaard on a night in which West Ham mustered over 30 attempts on goal but found the net only once.

ඣ“Reflection is not easy because I think that we deserved much more,” Lopetegui sighed, Leicester scoring with three of their 10 attempts.

ꦇ“We had 31 shots on the opposite goal. Many, many chances. The first goal for them [from Jamie Vardy after two minutes] has been key. We have to do better than this. We have to avoid this start of the match, because after this goal they believed more.

ಞ“Normally if you create even fewer chances, you are going to win. We didn’t do it, so we are very frustrated. The players didn’t deserve this.