What West Ham can expect from Julen Lopetegui as new boss makes ambitious vow

A new era begins at the London Stadium, with West Ham United confirming Julen Lopetegui as their new manager.

The Hammers confirmed in early May that David Moyes would leave the club after the season finale at Manchester City, with the Scottish boss departing after four-and-a-half years in charge. Lopetegui's arrival comes despite reported interest from clubs on the continent, and sees him stay in England after leaving Wolves on the eve of the 2023-24 campaign.

West Ham have encountered Lopetegui as an opponent in the past, and not just in the Premier League. He was in the Sevilla dugout back in March 2022 when Andriy Yarmolenko gave the London side a dramatic extra-time victory to knock the 2020 winners out of the Europa League.

The new boss arrives with calibre, having been chosen to lead both Spain and Real Madrid - albeit not for too long. But what can the Hammers expect from him on the pitch? Mirror Football has taken a closer look at what might be in store.

West Ham's issues towards the end of the 2023-24 season were plain to see. They'd done their best to make up for the loss of Declan Rice in the first half of the season, but defensive issues were exacerbated by a thin squad and some untimely injuries.

Their last clean sheet in the league came on January 2 against Brighton, and the 74 goals conceded is the club's worst return in the Premier League era. Even in 2010-11, when they finished rock bottom under Avram Grant, they only conceded 70.

"You get the best midfield player in the country, protecting, making sure the moments and times you limit maybe 50 per cent of the attacks and the moments, when you get that then it makes you a much better defensive team," Moyes said after the 5-0 defeat at Chelsea, lamenting the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal. "We’ve lacked protection in front of the back four, we’ve lacked good enough defending, we’ve just not been good enough on those things in many games."

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Julen Lopetegui at his West Ham unveiling

Lopetegui's teams have, broadly speaking, been tighter at the back. West Ham have never averaged less than one goal a game in a Premier League season, but his arrival could prompt a return to the relative solidity which underpinned the top-seven finishes under Moyes in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

That's especially true on home soil. Lopetegui took over with Wolves bottom of the league, but a run of just six goals conceded in 10 league games at Molineux helped them clinch safety and even finish above West Ham in May 2023.

The arguable highlight came in February, with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool put to the sword in a 3-0 Wolves win. Former West Ham centre-back Craig Dawson scored one of the goals, and his January 2023 arrival at Molineux might offer a glimpse into the particular brand of defensive solidity favoured by Lopetegui in his last job.

Julen Lopetegui with the Europa League trophy

It was a similar story in 2019-20 when Lopetegui won his one piece of major silverware. Sevilla shipped just 14 goals at home en route to a fourth-place finish in La Liga, and conceded just seven across 12 Europa League games - group and knockout, home, away or neutral turf.

That strength at the back continued for two more seasons in Spain, but it all went wrong at the start of the 2022-23 campaign. Lopetegui's seven league games brought just one win, 11 goals conceded, and - most strikingly - not a single clean sheet.

His move to Molineux did appear to mark that out as a blip rather than the new normal. However, while the form at home was impressive, fans were left frustrated by the results on the road.

A late Rayan Ait-Nouri winner gave Wolves victory at Everton in their first game under the former Spain boss, but won just one of 11 on the road after that. A particular low point came at the end of April, a 6-0 defeat at Brighton in which the Seagulls were four goals to the good before half-time.

"We have worked very hard this season and for today for a lot of reasons we have lost 6-0 and when you lose like that you have to be able to recover your energy," he said after the reverse on the south coast. "We had big mistakes. The responsibility is the coach's."

There was a sense from some Wolves fans that Lopetegui picked the games he wanted to win and was less fussed about those in which his team stood less of a chance. For Hammers supporters, that might conjure up memories of old boss Sam Allardyce during the first couple of years back in the Premier League.

It was all well and good when Lopetegui was winning those games at Wolves, even as they finished the campaign as the league's lowest scorers. The challenge will come if he's forced to arrest a slide, though, with a steadier brand of football not necessarily likely to get fans out of their seats.

Julen Lopetegui with Roberto De Zerbi before Brighton v Wolves

David Moyes reacting during West Ham's defeat at Chelsea

West Ham showed their attacking quality last season, even as defensive frailties became more visible. The 5-0 win over Freiburg was a rare post-January highlight, while the goals in the 4-3 defeat at Newcastle gave a glimpse into what a West Ham team firing on all cylinders might look like.

It's often been defence first for Lopetegui, though, and the personnel he brings in could offer a guide to the kind of support the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus might receive further forward. Youssef En-Nesyri was linked with the Hammers during the Moyes era, and his prior relationship with the new boss at Sevilla has seen those links resurface.

One thing he did achieve at Wolves was building the foundations of a team which Gary O'Neil was able to take forward. Matheus Cunha top-scored in his first full season at the club, while fellow Lopetegui signings Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes helped the club shake off the summer exit of Matheus Nunes.

Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus celebrating during West Ham v Liverpool

“I feel that we have a fantastic platform," Lopetegui said upon taking his new job. "I think the last few years have been very good years to have this base, of course, but my ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete. We are very ambitious about this."

The lack of European football this term could be a double-edged sword. The toll on the players ought not to be quite as severe, but there won't be a chance to hide behind promising group stage performances if results in the league take a while to get going.

Finally, for all the defensive frailties last season, there was arguably just as much frustration with some tentative attacking play - especially at home. Many will demand an understanding of 'The West Ham way' from the new boss, and that doesn't necessarily sync with his previous form.

West Ham technical director Tim Steidten pointed to Lopetegui's track record of improving players wherever he has been. His challenge at West Ham is making an immediate impact in his first season and ensuring he's given the time to take the team and its individuals to the next level.

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