Was that enough? Reports indicated that West Ham would assess Julen Lopetegui’s future during the international break if they lost to Everton. They managed to avoid that fate, but beyond securing another point towards safety next May, was a goalless draw really an improvement? For long stretches, this was a dreadful game of football. While West Ham might argue they had the better chances, particularly after half-time with Jarrod Bowen’s near-miss, Crysencio Summerville hitting the post, and Danny Ings forcing two fine saves from Jordan Pickford, it was still far from a performance that unequivocally justifies Lopetegui’s continuation.
The fanbase, already frustrated by the football under David Moyes’s second tenure, was not celebrating through the Christmas shoppers. The most memorable moment was probably Vitalii Mykolenko’s badly sliced 25-yard shot. The setting matched the dismal mood: a damp, raw November afternoon with a fine mist illuminated by floodlights, and Anish Kapoor’s Orbital looming like a Soviet-era ski-lodge. The atmosphere was subdued, cold, and weary, with a lingering awareness of past glories and the distance from them.
There were mishit, misplaced, and misconceived passes, and passes to no one at all. When the press-box monitors went off in the first half, it felt like a mercy. The game reached a level of tedium where people wondered how Thilo Kehrer was faring since leaving West Ham for Monaco. West Ham are in a phase where everything is going wrong. Despite spending £130m in the summer, only Aaron Wan-Bissaka has made a clear positive impact. Carlos Soler has started one league game; Guido Rodríguez looks slow; Luis Guilherne, who cost £25m, has managed five minutes; Niclas Füllkrug has barely played due to injury; and Maximilian Kilman has been error-prone. Tim Steidten, the technical director with an awkward relationship with David Moyes, is under scrutiny.
Key players like Bowen, Lucas Paquetá, and Mohammed Kudus are out of form. Lopetegui has not convinced anyone he is the right man to lead the club forward. Discipline has become an issue, with Kudus banned for five games after his antics against Tottenham, and Edson Álvarez picking up a second yellow at Nottingham Forest, losing his way to the tunnel as a metaphor for West Ham’s season. Occasionally, Summerville showed promise, but his most decisive act was blocking after Idrissa Gueye released Abdoulaye Doucouré.
Everton’s loss at Southampton ended a five-game unbeaten run, but they are not playing with much zest or flair. Only in the final minutes before the break did anyone look like scoring, with Pickford denying Bowen and then Michail Antonio. The second half was more open, but the bar was low. A point each might be crucial for mid-table positioning, but the idea that 60,000 people willingly attended is, frankly, baffling.
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