Julen Lopetegui is determined to repay the faith shown in him by West Ham fans following a poor start at home.
The Hammers have won just one of their first four games under the Spaniard and are yet to pick up a point at the London Stadium as they prepare to host London rivals Chelsea on Saturday.
Lopetegui is trying to usher in a new expansive brand of football in East London after succeeding David Moyes but so far the side has shown some teething problems.
August’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace is their only victory thus far, while they needed a stoppage-time Danny Ings goal to rescue a point at Fulham last week after losing against Aston Villa and Manchester City at home.
“My message to the fans is first that we are grateful because they always support us,” said Lopetegui. “We feel that.
“We want to give them good news, good matches. This is our aim. We have to work hard to be able to compete and to win these kinds of matches.”
“Their support is going to be key” 🔑
Lopetegui highlights the importance of your energy this
Saturday, Hammers ⚒️#TalkingPoint with @LycamobileUK 📞 pic.twitter.com/roPdo4SHnu— West Ham United (@WestHam) September 19, 2024
While positive results are yet to come, the former Real Madrid boss insists he is happy with how his players are adapting to the new system.
“Always you can improve and develop your ideas,” he said. “I’m very happy with the players’ commitment, they are working hard every day. It’s the first step we need in order to develop the rest.
“With this behaviour and commitment, I am sure that step by step we are going to improve and compete better.
“We’re keeping the good things that the team has and trying to improve the other things.
“You have to look at the end of the season where you are. The Premier League is a very long, very hard season. Different kinds of matches. We have to be ready to be competitive all season.
“The results are about time, but also you need to win. When you win you believe more and get stronger and stronger.”
Updates on Emerson and Fullkrug
Lopetegui said left-back Emerson is touch and go for the Saturday lunchtime clash and said he will wait until just before kick-off to see if the Brazilian can feature.
“Fortunately, it wasn’t a big knock for Emerson,” Lopetegui said. “It’s still Thursday and so 48 hours or so before the match, so there is still time where we need to review things. We will evaluate him again tomorrow [Friday] and see where we are.”
Similar was said for summer signing Niclas Fullkrug, after an injury while on international ruled him out of facing Fulham.
Lopetegui added: “We are trying to recover all the players, and we have to wait until the day before the game to know more about all of them.
“That includes Niclas. He has had a different kind of problem to Emerson, and really we just have to wait until Friday to know what is going to happen.”
