Lopetegui speaks

Sid Lowe interviews Julen Lopetegui in Sunday's Observer and the former West Ham gaffer seems to be in denial about the reasons he was sacked. He argues: "We weren't in danger and we were adapting, learning, taking steps." Though not too many fans could see signs of progress, whereas Potter seems to have created a more organised side and better team spirit in a matter of weeks. Loppy's sacking came after a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool and a 4-1 defeat at Man City. The only really impressive performance was the win at Newcastle, but even allowing for trying to change the the Hammers to a possession-based side, there were too many dispiriting defeats and poor performances.

The way Lopetegui was sacked was certainly very undignified however and you do feel sorry for him in that, as the piece implies, most of the signings were from Tim Steidten, "but few signings worked out, Lopetegui not convinced." When asked about the now departed Steidten Lopetegui says: "I prefer not talk about the Tim subject. That's the past, internal issues..." Click on the link to read the whole interview.