Julen Lopetegui sack latest: 'Massive' West Ham claim

Julen Lopetegui will ease the pressure on his position as the West Ham manager if he can earn results against Newcastle and Arsenal.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who remains well-connected within the game, insisted that the upcoming run of fixtures will be “massive” for the boss’ future.

If he can pick up points against Newcastle and Arsenal in their next two games, it has been said the boss should be afforded an extended run of fixtures to turn their season around.

However, defeats in both games would pile on additional pressure to his job after a slow start to their Premier League campaign.

Two losses would force the board to make a decision ahead of a favourable run of fixtures about whether to give Lopetegui the chance or to bring in a new boss and start them off with an easier run.

The Hammers are currently 14th in the table, having won just three of their opening 11 games despite their lofty expectations set during David Moyes’ reign.

There are also ongoing questions about their defensive stability, having conceded 19 goals so far this season despite a summer transfer overhaul.

Julen Lopetegui has two weeks to save his West Ham job

Robinson claimed the pressure on Lopetegui is building regardless of their upcoming fixtures after the amount of money spent in the summer.

On top of that, he has now insisted that the next two weeks will be crucial to Lopetegui’s future against two sides aiming to finish towards the top of the league.

“Lopetegui has got a massive two weeks ahead of him,” he told Football Insider.

“He’s under huge pressure now. He was given really strong backing from the West Ham board because he’s part of their project.

“But they’ve spent a lot of money and the players they’ve got haven’t quite struck a cord yet.

“West Ham are nowhere near where they expected to be at this stage.

“If they’re still in the same situation in two weeks’ time… It’s a massive game away at Newcastle on Monday and then they’re at home to Arsenal.

“They’ve got a run of a few winnable games after that, though, but they’ll be asking the question.

“It’s unlikely they get anything from Newcastle or Arsenal, so then what do they do?

“Do they give him the run of games or do they admit they made a mistake and give a new manager that run of games to establish themselves?

“I think we’ll be talking about his future again after the Arsenal game when it really comes to fruition.”

In other news, West Ham are working on a deal to sign a defender in January.

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