Julen Lopetegui breaks silence on West Ham future as two players absent for Newcastle United test

West Ham United boss Julen Lopetegui says he is ignoring the outside noise surrounding his future and insists that his sole focus is on preparing his side for the upcoming Newcastle United test.

The Spaniard, who replaced David Moyes in the dugout in the London Stadium over the summer, has won just three of his opening 11 matches in the Premier League - leaving the Hammers just five points clear of the relegation places despite spending over £132m on new recruits. Reports from The Guardian have claimed that Lopetegui has been given a two-game ultimatum to save his job, which begins with a trip to St James’ Park on Monday night before an all-London affair against Arsenal just five days later.

“I don’t listen or read about what is said, I prefer to work hard, ” Lopetegui told reporters. “We put all of our focus on what we can control, and that’s working hard and trying to improve. The season ends in May, so let's see how we're doing then rather than in November. The only thing I'm focused on now is going to Newcastle on Monday, and trying to get a good result in a tough game.”

The former Real Madrid boss spoke highly of Newcastle’s qualities and describes St James’ Park as a difficult environment to perform. He explained: “It’s going to be a difficult game, in a difficult environment, and we will be playing one of the more complex teams. We have to be ready to be able to compete with them.”

West Ham suffered a demoralising 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest earlier in the month but produced a much stronger display in their last match during a frustrating 0-0 draw with Everton where his side squandered a number of key opportunities to win the match. Reflecting on the match, Lopetegui added: “It’s true we did much better in the second half against Everton than in the first. We were happy with the second half, and thought we deserved to win, but we will take those positives to be more competitive in the next matches.”

West Ham are expected to line-up with something close to their best team. However, they will be forced to cope without summer signing Nicklas Fullkrug due to injury along with the suspended Mohammed Kudus. When discussing team selection, the Hammers boss added: “We’ve had a little problem with two players, but we have to check tomorrow. I hope they’ll be ready for Monday. Niclas Füllkrug is improving, but he’s not ready yet. Alphonse Areola is working hard and is ready.”

Lopetegui is the bookmakers favourite to be the next managerial casualty of the season after Erik ten Hag’s departure from Old Trafford. When quizzed further on his future, the 58-year-old added that pressure is just apart of the business.

He said: “Our life is to live under pressure, that’s why we choose this kind of work. The more important thing is that we are working very hard to improve. The players are very committed, and we are all not happy with the position we’re in. But there’s still time, and we have to get there step-by-step. We have to do more and achieve the best level for every player. We have to increase the level of all the teams, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Newcastle are yet to lose a game against West Ham under Eddie Howe and celebrated one of the great afternoon’s of the season in their last outing against the Hammers when they came back from 3-1 down to record an incredible 4-3 victory. West Ham fans have to go back to the opening day of the 2021/22 campaign for their last victory against the Magpies, which came courtesy of goals from Aaron Cresswell, Said Benrahma, Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio in a 4-2 victory with Callum Wilson and Jacob Murphy scoring for the hosts.