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Julen Lopetegui signing comes under fire from Kevin Nolan after West Ham beaten at Liverpool
It just gets worse for West Ham United and their manager Julen Lopetegui after their League Cup thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Some might say, David Moyes is laughing somewhere because there is already huge pressure on West Ham United’s newly-appointed boss and it isn’t even Christmas yet.
In truth, the Hammers faithful went into their EFL Cup showdown at Anfield with very little expectation, and in the end, they crumbled to a 5-1 defeat.
There were some talking points, including a few penalty calls being overlooked, especially when the away side were putting some serious pressure on Liverpool at 2-1.
Even when Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score his side’s third goal, West Ham were still in it, but then Edson Alvarez was shown a second yellow card.
That knocked the wind out of their sails and Liverpool just outclassed their out-of-form opponents, with one player, in particular, coming under fire.
Kevin Nolan was in the West Ham dugout for several years with Moyes and he was working for Sky doing some punditry work for the game.
One man who Lopetegui brought to the club in the summer was sought-after centre-back, Jean-Clair Todibo.
But Nolan slammed the 24-year-old’s defending, especially for Liverpool’s fourth and fifth goals and how it was ‘really poor’.
Jamie Redknapp refused to sympathise with the fact that Todibo is new to the league because he felt he was doing the ‘basics’ wrong, including turning his back when Cody Gakpo was shooting and how ‘I can’t stand that’, as he told (25/09/24 at 10:10 pm).
Jean-Clair Todibo under fire after West Ham thrashed at Liverpool
“I think it’s really poor defending by Todibo,” said Nolan for Liverpool’s fourth and fifth goals. “On both of these. See where he goes, he is a centre-half and he is going out to the right. Cody Gakpo comes, he is trying to cover Vladimir and that opens up the space. He isn’t looking at the ball.
Redknapp on the fifth goal: “Cody does well and now he has his tail up. He is playing great. Lovely bit of skill on Kudus. Rolls him. Uses him, cuts inside and wants to get on that right foot. Obviously gets a big deflection.
“Todibo, who Kevin just mentioned, is your centre-back. Now, I can’t stand this when players do this, look at him there, the right side of the box, as he shoots, he just turns his back completely. You have got to stand tall. You might think ‘I have to take one in the face here’. That isn’t brave defending. That’s terrible. You can’t do that. Talk about he is new to the league, this and that. They are the basics and the fundamentals of defending. You can’t do that, whether that’s 4-1 or 5-1.”
Julen Lopetegui needs time at West Ham
It doesn’t help matters that Lopetegui has the Moyes cloud over his head because it won’t go away, regardless of how well he does or doesn’t do.
On one hand, people will be ready to verbally batter him because they feel Moyes was harshly booted out, but others can’t wait to dish it out and prove why it was right for the Scotsman to go.
READ MORE: West Ham made an obvious £15m transfer mistake this summer and they’re now paying the price
Either way, Lopetegui is under fire, his new signings now need to step up and they need three points against Brentford at the weekend.
That’s an away tie, before a home leg against Ipswich Town, and if he is still without a win, then you just know what all the talk is going to be about during the international break.