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- [00:01]
Sponsor Voice
Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24. 7 that is definitely true for us over here. Sometimes 25. 7 it feels like. So when you're hiring, you need a partner that grinds just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network, and get qualified candidates that you can manage all in one place. Here's how it works. LinkedIn helps you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people. With deep candidate insights. You can either post your job for free or pay to promote. Promoted jobs do get about three times more qualified applicants, but that means you're getting qualified candidates. And at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn, you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Because based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. So find out why more than 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com TSS that's LinkedIn.com TSS to post your job for free, terms and conditions apply.
- [01:20]
Chase Sapphire Lounge Voice
With an hour before boarding, there's only one place to go. The Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club. There you can recharge before the big adventure or enjoy a locally inspired dish. You could recline in a comfy chair to catch up on your favorite show or order a craft cocktail at the bar. Whatever you're in the mood for, find the detail that moves you with curated touches at the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club Chase. Make more of what's yours. Learn more@chase.com SapphireReserve cards issued by JP.
- [01:48]
JP Morgan Voice
Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC.
- [01:49]
Credit Approval Voice
Subject to credit approval.
- [01:50]
Aura Voice
This podcast is brought to you by Aura. Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained. Bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest. All because because someone stole your identity. Hackers aren't waiting. Why are you? That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Your personal data is a goldmine for hackers, and Aura helps lock it down. Aura monitors the dark web, blocks data brokers from selling your information. Includes a VPN for private browsing and a password manager to secure your accounts before criminals break in. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety aura.com safety to sign up and start protecting yourself and your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety terms apply. Check the site for details.
- [02:46]
Credit Approval Voice
The Athletic.
- [02:53]
Ayo Akemolere
Last night West Ham announced that David Moyes will leave the club when his contract expires this summer. After a prolonged search for Moors successor, it seems the hammers have landed on Julen Lopetegui. So why have West Ham chosen the former Spain Real Madrid and Wolves manager over other candidates? And for Lopetegui himself, what is it about the project that has made him turn down the allure of Bayern Munich? I'm Ayo Akemolere. Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast. So with us today we have the Athletics, Tim Spears, our football correspondent David Ornstein as well. Right, David, on Monday you reported on the Athletic that West Ham have agreed terms with Julen Lopetegui to succeed David Moyes. We'll touch on Lopetegui in just a second. But firstly, West Ham's decision to change manager. Was this a mutual one?
- [03:56]
JP Morgan Voice
Well, if we cast our minds back to late February IO David Moyes revealed that he had been offered a new contract and insisted that it would be his decision on whether or not it would be signed and that that would take place at the end of the season. Either way. However, in the interim period, West Ham's form has suffered. He has been subject to increased criticism and as I understand it, the balance of power shifted towards West Ham. I'm not sure that offer was still on the table. And ultimately this appears to have been West Ham's decision to part ways sooner rather than later. And the development was delivered to David Moyes by West Ham's owner, David Sullivan.
- [04:43]
Ayo Akemolere
Okay. And Tim, you know, I mean, it's sort of been reported. Several people have been interviewed for the job. I guess the big conversation is, do we feel David Moyes has been treated with through all of this?
- [04:55]
Credit Approval Voice
No, not in terms of the manager search. I think his departure's probably only been announced because of the great work of people like David. Right. Exposing what's actually happening here, I. E. They're very publicly looking for a manager, not very discreetly. And it looks like they found 1. The MRM stuff was bad enough on both their parts. He issued an apology. Didn't hear about that. Because it's been found out. The sort of continuous message was this was all going to be done at the end of the season. Even on Sunday Post Chelsea, Moyes was saying that and now this. So, yeah, it looks amateur, it's sloppy, it reflects pretty badly on the club, who look like a bit of a joke, really. Whoever's in charge, it's bad. But the fact that Moyes is. He's not just like he's been in there for six months, like Ralph Rangnick or something, you know, he's been there many years over two spells. He's delivered their first trophy in four decades and generally handled himself with dignity throughout this time. So, yeah, it's. It's not a good look for West Ham and he has been disrespected.
- [05:51]
Ayo Akemolere
I guess a little tongue in cheek at this moment in time though is that West Ham could potentially hold the keys to who's winning the title. Right. We love a bit of narrative in football. You know what I mean? City, last game of the season. I know they're away at City, but who knows, man? A little last gasp for West Ham United to put on a performance against Manchester City. What are you thinking?
- [06:12]
Credit Approval Voice
We're all desperate for that, right? You know, for it to go to the last day and we're looking for where City can lose points. I mean, I remember myself included was saying spurs were the king makers of few weeks ago. Right.
- [06:24]
Ayo Akemolere
And now, I mean, the last two games have probably showed us that. Let's not bank on that.
- [06:28]
Credit Approval Voice
Is that clip of Bart Simpson playing three chess games at once And I was like, who is that genius? And then like he loses every match. Yeah. I wouldn't be too confident of. Of West Ham getting something at City on the final day. I mean. So Moyes, when West Ham beat Arsenal around Christmas, that was Moyes first win away at either Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United or Chelsea in 72 matches. That's two seasons worth of going away to the same four clubs every week and not winning. I guess, I guess that's one of the issues with Moyes, right? He's. He. He has played it a little bit too safe and there are issues at West Ham which have been going on for a while and I think the Conference League win probably. Probably masked those a little bit. It's an extremely notable achievement to win that competition and amazing for the fans. You know, they'll never forget it. But if you look at the teams they. They beat along the way, you know, Gent and Az Alkmaar, it was a great team, but they were favorites to win every single match in that tournamen tournament. And while they were prioritizing that, you know, they finished 14th last year. So I think if they hadn't won the Conference League, Moyes would probably have gone last summer, especially with Tim Steyden coming in and the change of direction that you could see West Ham going in. He did some great stuff there. I think finishing sixth and seventh in the two previous seasons was really notable. And the Conference League win and the goodwill that came with that sort of kept him in a job, but really with the style of football. Just to say I, I mean I saw them against spurs earlier in the season away at spurs and they won that game 2, 1. But I remember thinking half an hour in that this felt like a League 2 team going away to a Premier League team in an FA cup game because they were defending in their six yard box and hoofing it out of play. It was so noticeable because you don't see that in the Premier League very much. But they were literally hoofing out of play. And I guess that sums up his time really. The football was not great to watch, but results generally kept him in it, which is in fact exactly what people say about Lopetegui at Sevilla. But anyway, we'll come on to that.
- [08:17]
Ayo Akemolere
Well, that actually brings me nicely to this because, you know, all chat of loving narrow narrative in football. David, something that's emerged from this Lopetegui link to West Ham is also the name Bayern Munich. I mean, what, I mean, how, how closely linked is he to Bayern Munich or was he to Bayern Munich?
- [08:34]
JP Morgan Voice
Yeah, first I, I just want to pick up on Tim's point about Moyes. I think in the context of West Ham and some of what we've seen over the years, most notably a supporter running onto the pitch with a corner flag and placing it in the center circle mid match against Burnley as well as, as some of the relegations, the darker days at Upton park and the London Stadium, the controversies around the club. He ushered in this second stint, four and a half years, a fantastic era that the West Ham fans haven't been able to enjoy for a long time. They'll never forget that European final, the cup win and some really iconic victories and some football that we shouldn't rewrite. History was excellent at times, especially when Declan Rice was in the side and, and his departure has been a massive lost to the club. But it's also a player that Moyes has helped develop and earn West Ham in excess of £100 million. I really think some respect needs to be put on his name for the job he's done there. But equally it's, it's okay to move on. His contract was up this summer. West Ham had to do their due diligence planning for the eventuality that a vacancy was to arise. Because whether it was to be Moyes or West Ham's decision, the show must go on. And Tim Styton, the technical director was tasked with leading that process. And I take Tim's point about perceived disrespect, but at the same time was his job that he was mandated to do by the ownership, the hierarchy. And so, yeah, talks did happen, as we revealed on the Athletic with Amorim, a very public, infamous meeting took place in London. He came away from that deciding that it was not the right opportunity for him. At that point, my understanding was that he had emerged as the top target. That then shifted to Lopetegui, who had been in the frame for quite some time. And that brings us neatly onto your question, because he had been coveted by a number of clubs since leaving Wolves on the eve of the season. Off the top of my head, Crystal palace spoke to him prior to appointing Oliver Glasner, Nottingham Forest before Nuno Espirito Santo came into the city ground. AC Milan held talks with him. More recently, Villarreal al it he had in the Saudi pro league offered him a job and he turned that. But the most eye catching one of all is, is Bayern Munich. Now let's be clear, Bayern are looking at multiple candidates. They've had rejections, false dawns, inquiries. It doesn't mean that they are going for all of them. But yeah, Lopetegui is one that they had reached out to. And we revealed when the news emerged of West Ham reaching an agreement on personal terms with Lopetegui, that Bayern Munich had been in touch that day, which is quite remarkable to sort of understand his situation, to inquire about what was going on, to see if it was still possible to take it further. But all of our information suggests that he was enthused by the West Ham possibility, the opportunity there, the scope to take West Ham onto the next level, to work in the Premier League again, which we got the sense had always been the target of his. And so when that sort of news emerges from us on Monday, your immediate reaction and that of everybody I saw who had read the story and seen our social media output was like, what on earth is happening here? How can somebody turn down Bayern Munich for West Ham? I don't think it was that extreme in terms of, we don't know he was offered the job or anything like that, but certainly he was one that they wanted to talk to a bit further. It also indicates how far West Ham have come, how far the Premier League have come, how attractive these opportunities are. We'll now come on to talk about Lopetegui himself. But you know, some of the reaction in terms of West Ham fans in certain quarters, very upset with the idea of him coming in. There was a petition that started against it. I don't think it got many signatures, but when you look back across his track record, I think it's an appointment that may come to excite West Ham fans and gives them a chance, in my view and the view of people who know more about these things than me, of continuing their trajectory, which under Moyes has been pretty much upward with European qualifications, high placed Premier League finishes and that unforgettable piece of silverware.
- [12:59]
Ayo Akemolere
Yeah, for sure. Tim brings us nicely to, to Lopetegui and I guess most Premier League fans will notably know that he was at Wolves. But actually you look a bit further back. This is someone that got severe into the top four regularly. Also won the Europa League as well, but there've been a few, how can I say, hiccups along the way. How should we judge this manager and what should West Ham fans be looking forward to with this manager from the time in which you saw him at Wolves? Let's start on that one.
- [13:25]
Credit Approval Voice
I mean with Wolves it was slightly different in that he joined when they were 20th in the table bottom at Christmas or you know, albeit played fewer games that season because of the World Cup. So for Wolves to survive with a number of games to spare, I mean they were 13th in the end was a hugely impressive job. One which I think was. Was probably slightly underplayed last year. But in terms of, in terms of what West Ham fans are looking for, it's more style of football. Right. It's not. They don't need a firefighter to who can lift a team from the bottom of the league to 13. That's the kind of thing that David Moyes has done a lot of his career. I guess they want someone who's going to enlist an attack in exciting style of football while being able to lift a club into I guess the top six bracket in this case and challenging for honours. The Sevilla job is far more relevant to that. I mean Sevilla had finished in the top four once in the previous decade before he arrived. They then finished fourth, fourth, fourth in his three full seasons in the job and obviously won the Europa League. You know, you don't get the Spain and Real Madrid jobs in the space of a couple of years without being a top, top manager. And people who work with him speak to that in terms of his coaching, his high level training sessions, his deep knowledge of the game, tactical knowledge, I think in terms of man management and media, doesn't quite come across as well. He can be quite grumpy and stubborn and a bit aloof. But in terms of his coaching, yeah, what he's done in certain places of his career, particularly with the Spain youth teams, where he won the Euros with the under 19s and the under 21s, which has sort of led him to get the Spain job. And then with Spain, you know, we'll never know what happened because he was binned off on the eve of the tournament.
- [15:06]
Ayo Akemolere
That's the hiccup I was talking about.
- [15:07]
Credit Approval Voice
Yeah. So, yeah, so let's not forget that he'd say he'd mostly done all of his good, worked with the Spanish youth teams. Then he went to Porto where he didn't win a trophy in two years, which is, you know, it's not good for Porto, but he did reach the court finals of the Champions League. So that leads him to get the Spain job, where he goes 20 games unbeaten over two years. They're playing some fantastic, exciting football. They're beating France and Belgium, they're beating Argentina 6 1. On the eve of the World cup in Russia 2018. They're one of the favorites going into the tournament. He's thinking, oh, wow, this is amazing. I could win the World cup here. And then I know I'm going to Real Madrid at the end of the tournament. This is it, my career's made. I'm one of the best managers in the world. And then Real Madrid announced that he's going to be their new manager on the eve of the World Cup. Spain, obviously not happy with that, has come out. Maybe they didn't know it was going to happen at the time. So they sack him on the eve of the tournament and then he. Yeah, Real Madrid ends up being a disaster. He lasts 14 games, 130 odd days. He loses six matches out of 14. They're ninth in the table. They've lost five one to Barcelona. I think his experience with Spain and how that unravelled really scarred him. And I think he did struggle to deal with the pressure of being Real Madrid manager. So, yeah, for him to then go to Sevilla and salvage his reputation like he did was very impressive. And he's done a really good job at Wolves. In the circumstances. So there's a lot to be, there's a lot to be enthused about for West Ham fans from that point of view. In terms of the style of play, the jury's a little bit more out on that in terms of the excitement factor. He's attack minded and likes to control games and dominate games. But from watching him at Wolves and from what people have said about his time at Sevilla, it can be labored and it's not necessarily that thrilling, but it's attack minded and it generally works pretty well. I mean, Sevilla. I remember watching Sevilla v. Wolves in the 2020 Europa League Corps finals and this was Nuno's Wolves against Lopetegui's Sevilla and Sevilla dismantled Wolves that day. He only finished 1 nil, but they had 75 possession. They had this 4,3,3 system with attacking fullbacks who were Sergio Regillon and Jesus Navas, endless amount of shots, creativity, Ava Bonega pulling the strings in midfield. You had Kunde and Diego Carlos at the back, A Campos and Nesri as well up front. A great team. And yeah, I guess one of the criticisms that was sort of leveled at him was yes, it's attacking and yes, it looks great on the eye, but it's a little bit too structured and methodical for the sort of the creative freedom to come because he's very, he's very big on structure, defensive structure, midfield structure, but not much freedom within that. It's remarkable how identical his three seasons at Sevilla were in terms of the finished fourth three times. Points tallies were 70, 77 and 70 goals. 4, 54, 53, 53 goals against 34, 33, 30. It's almost identical every single season and that sort of reflects how he lines up his teams really. Like I said, great league positions, won the Europa League, did a great job at Wolves, attack minded but also very structured. It's going to be, it will be very different to David Moises West Ham. They'll have a lot more possession and they'll look to control games in a manner that David Moises West Ham wouldn't have looked to do. But in terms of the thrilling nature, I'm not sure that's. That's quite what he's done in his career. It's not to say he can't do it now.
- [18:26]
JP Morgan Voice
Thank God we get people like Tim Om journalists with so much expertise and detail. And I just wanted to pick up on one thing, the 433. It would appear to suit somebody like Kudus who you mentioned there. And it has served him. Well, they may also have to think about their recruitment very heavily, which will be a collaboration with Tim Styton. And we didn't mention earlier that one of the remarkable things that happened at the end of David Moyes reign, as it would prove, was that Tim Styton was essentially banned from the dressing room at the training ground and stadium for the remainder of the season while he was leading this process. Now, there's a bit of conjecture over who banned him. I suspect it was initiated by David Moyes because it wasn't an ideal situation given what Styton was having to do for the club. But then it was presented as a mutual decision in everybody's best interest and that relationship is going to be really important. West Ham have recruited fairly well from, from what I can see in recent times and to the style of the manager. But now they're going to have to take a new approach and Ulen Lopategi will have thoughts in that they've got Rob Newman there at West Ham as well, who's influential on the recruitment side. We know the sort of power of David Sullivan, Karen Brady in all of this too. And so he's gonna have to sort of bed in there in in a different way to how things were at Wolves, where he had Matt Hobbs as sporting director, Jeff Shee as the sort of chief executive on. On behalf of Foson. And one other point on the style Tim, is that I didn't actually realize until quite recently that Lopetegui is a product of Johan Cruyff. Cruyff took him to Barcelona, I think it was in 1994, as a goalkeeper. And that's when he started to sort of expand his horizons and think about football rather than just play and develop his tactical ideas. He's been studious, it said, while he's been out of the game. I actually bumped into him at Crystal palace against Arsenal. I think it was the opening weekend of this season and he was just in the normal seats. Actually it wasn't a particularly posh seat, not director's box or anything. He was there to. To watch and to learn and develop, maybe. With a view to the talks with Crystal palace that were later to follow. I was reading an article that also said that he's been talking to the PGMOL while he's been out. Almost like he wants to keep abreast of refereeing developments. And that is testament to somebody that really wants to continue to make a good crack of this career. And he stands a decent chance, I think.
- [21:00]
Ayo Akemolere
Think.
- [21:03]
Credit Approval Voice
You'Re listening to the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akamwalere.
- [21:10]
Sponsor Voice
Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24. 7 that is definitely true for us over here.
- [21:21]
Credit Approval Voice
Sometimes 25.
- [21:22]
Sponsor Voice
7 it feels like so when you're hiring, you need a partner that grinds just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network, and get qualified candidates that you can manage all in one place. Here's how it works. LinkedIn helps you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. You can either post your job for free or pay to promote. Promoter jobs do get a three times more qualified applicants, but that means you're getting qualified candidates. And at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Because based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. So find out why more than 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com TSS that's LinkedIn.com TSS to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply with an hour.
- [22:30]
Chase Sapphire Lounge Voice
Before boarding, there's only one place to go. The Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club. There you can recharge before the big adventure or enjoy a locally inspired dish. You can recline in a comfy chair to catch up on your favorite show or order a craft cocktail at the bar. Whatever you're in the mood for, find the detail that moves you with curated touches at the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club Chase. Make more of what's yours. Learn more@chase.com Sapphire Reserve cards issued by.
- [22:57]
JP Morgan Voice
JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member.
- [22:58]
Credit Approval Voice
FDIC subject to credit approval.
- [22:59]
Aura Voice
This podcast is brought to you by Aura. Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained. Bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest. All because someone stole your identity. Hackers aren't waiting. Why are you? That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Your personal data is a goldmine for hackers, and Aura helps lock it down. Aura monitors the dark web, Blocks data brokers from selling your information. Includes a VPN for private Browsing and a password manager to secure your accounts before criminals break in. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety that's aura.com safety to sign up and start protecting. Protecting yourself and your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety terms apply. Check the site for details.
- [23:57]
Ayo Akemolere
I'm just thinking about what you were saying there about how similar all his finishes were with Sevilla Tim, and you're asking yourself, well, West Ham are looking to push on as a team. Do we see this manager taking this team top four?
- [24:12]
Credit Approval Voice
It's hard to see, isn't it? I think a lot of it is going to depend on smart recruitment. To be honest, that's what he had at Sevilla with Monkey and that's what sort of led them to greater heights. But if you look at West Ham's sort of net spend over the past five years, they're like eighth in the table. If you look at their wage bill, current wage bill, they're like 8th, 8th highest wage bill and lo and behold, what are they ninth in the table. They are where they are in terms of net spend. You know, they're way below clubs like Newcastle and Spurs. So how do they look to overtake those clubs? It's all about smart recruitment. Lopatig is going to come in and change the wheel in terms of his style of football. You look at the quality of managers he's looking to overtake now, you know, at the top of the tree, obviously, Pep and Arteta. Then you've got Unai Emery, Postecoglou de Zerbi, who was, who's the. Who's, you know, the next big thing. Eddie Howe doing a fantastic job and they've all got loads of money to spend in terms of overtaking those. It's going to be so difficult. I really do think it's going to be about smart recruitment for players who fit Lopatigui's style of football, the right age range, the right sort of motivation and career points. Yeah, he's like I said, he's not going to wear the. Wow, the Premier League with an amazing style of de Zerbi style football to come in and climb the table. It's all got to be, as with most Premier League clubs, about how he gets on with those around him and about the sporting director and the recruitment team all being on the same page and working together in tandem to produce the best team that fits the style of football. It's, it's. It sounds easier than it ultimately is, but that's what he's got to do.
- [25:43]
JP Morgan Voice
I think, because he'd worked in Portugal before and is Iberian himself and worked for Wolves. I'm not sure. Tim may correct me, that George Mendes may have been involved in the deal that brought him to Molyneux, but contrary to some suggestions, I don't think they're inextricably linked and. And Mendez, to my knowledge, wasn't involved in this deal. So anybody listening, thinking, oh, they're just gonna sign a load of guestifruit players? I don't think that's the case. I think Tim's point on recruitment is spot on and. And they are going to need to nail that with him being a sort of firm part of a very new process that West Ham will be judged by.
- [26:21]
Credit Approval Voice
Just to say on that. I mean, yeah, when he came into Wolves, it was expected to be more of the same. You know, Wolves had hired. Had guessed a few managers up until that point under Fosen, with Nuno and Bruno Large, and it was sort of seen as more of the same. And Lopatigi's son had a. Was given a role within the club, which sort of only added to that. But then that. That January window, the one that ultimately helped Wolves, you know, survive, we did see a bit of a turn of the tide and how Wolves are run in terms of Matt Hobbs and how influential he was going to be in terms of recruitment. And Wolves did slightly move away from the Mendes model that January. They'd always leaned on Mendes players before that, but now there was a slight move away. And I think I. I think that's where perhaps Lopatigui and Mendes have sort of become a little bit more fractured than they perhaps would have been. So I wouldn't expect, because he's now manager of West Ham, for George Mendes to be heavily involved.
- [27:14]
JP Morgan Voice
And isn't that trust with the hierarchy crucial because he essentially walked out on the eve of a Premier League season because of what felt like. I don't know if broken promises is a bit harsh, but the hierarchy didn't deliver in the way that I think he was expecting.
- [27:30]
Credit Approval Voice
Yeah, and that's an important point to make in terms of what he wants from the club that he's joining. Right. In terms of this is why he didn't join palace, and this is why he walked away from Rules in that he wants to remit to bring in the players that he wants. He wants a decent amount of money spent. And, yeah, I think broken promise is probably fair enough to be honest. David, in terms of, in terms of where he was when he came into Wolves and you know, he thought he was joining a club that was looking to get back into Europe pretty, pretty quickly, I would guess. Instead, their Wolves books were hugely unbalanced. They needed to generate around 100 million in sales that summer. They got rid of Neves, Matinho, Traore Jimenez, Cody, Nathan Collins, Matthias Nunes. It was a fire sale basically and they signed Matt Doherty on a free transfer in return. So, yeah, it doesn't look great that he walked out on the eve of a season, but I think he was kind of thinking he swapped a team that was, that had finished fourth in La Liga three times in a row for one that was 20th in the Premier League. You know, he didn't do that to be, to be fighting relegation battles season after season. So I think he was thinking, how the hell am I supposed to take this squad to Europe? It might be a good 11, but it's not a squad to compete for European football. Why wasn't this done earlier in the summer? And ultimately, you know, despite some Heroics from Gary O'Neill up until sort of March time, that's been proved correct.
- [28:56]
Aura Voice
This podcast is brought to you by Aura. By the time you hear about a data breach, your information has already been exposed for months. On average, companies take 277 days to report a breach. That's nine months where hackers have access to your personal data. That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Aura is an all in one digital safety solution that monitors the dark web for your phone number, email and Social Security number, sending real time alerts if your info is found. It also includes a vpn, password manager and data broker removal to help keep you safe for a limited time. Aura is offering a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety. That's Aura.com safety to sign up and protect your loved ones. That's a u r a.com terms apply. Check the site for details.
- [29:54]
Credit Approval Voice
This is the Athletic FC podcast with.
- [29:56]
JP Morgan Voice
IO Akamolera.
- [30:00]
Ayo Akemolere
I guess David. Then the question is will he be backed in the transfer market this summer? I mean the rumor mills talking about, you know, Coventry midfielder Callum O'Hare, Hull City Centre back Jacob Greaves, but who knows if they're his style of player, right? I mean this is probably under but David Moyes. Right now we're talking about these names being linked who knows if these players are the kind of player that Lopetegui would be looking at? What's the board saying? Do we have a sense of whether or not there's a bit of money to spend and who might also be leaving, you know, West Ham this summer?
- [30:29]
JP Morgan Voice
Yeah, that's a really important point. And I think all evidence of recent windows and years suggests that West Ham are prepared to invest and back their manager in a collaborative way. And the arrival of Tim Styton as sporting director and his role in all of this indicates that he will have growing influence over transfers. And, and certainly he was the driving force in a signing like Mohamed Kudus last summer, rather than a David Moyes. Although I'm sure David Moyes was very happy to have such a quality player on board. I mentioned Rob Newman as well. They have a recruitment operation. David Sullivan does still take involvement in that recruitment process and to our knowledge, they' particularly close to the line in the way some other clubs are on psr. Our favorite subject IO and that would suggest post Declan Rice in particular, that there's a bit of flexibility to spend some money this summer and continue to progress. Now, there are release clauses in the contracts of the likes of Lucas Pakhtar, Mohamed Kudus, a number of West Ham players and, and so there is the possibility that clubs will come in for West Ham's most notable names and that could generate significant resources for the new manager and regime to spend. That said, they will be looking to consolidate. I don't think they absolutely don't want the likes of Pakitar and Ankudas to go, but there are realities. You know, Pakatar might well have gone to Manchester City and we talked about that on a recent pod if it wasn't for the betting allegations. And so, yeah, that it's going to be an absolutely fundamental area. I think they've done pretty well in recent times that there are clear areas of need to strengthen in attack. For example, you know, the, the Danny Ing's signing hasn't been as spectacular a success as. As West Ham would have envisaged endings himself. You've got Jared Bowen flying. Is he going to start to attract some interest from elsewhere? He seems to be very happy at West Ham, but, you know, he's been their main source of goals. You have Mikel Antonio has done well, of course, but he's had injuries this season. He's also getting on age wise, with all due respect. And so that would definitely be an area for focus and, and then it's. It's sort of satisfying the, the sort of tactical demand so, you know, finding players to fit with that. 4, 3, 3. The, the fullbacks coming inside which is something that Lopategi has, has tried to exhibit in the past. So yeah, I would expect West Ham to have a very active market and yeah, some of the names you mentioned there, especially sort of from championship level, yeah, Moyes I'm sure would have had some preference and influence but the time in which those sort of rumors were coming out, which is in the last month, I think there was already an assumption that Moyes would be leaving and it strikes me to be more of recruitment department targets and so that will continue. They would have had their eye on somebody like Lopetegui when they were exploring these. I, I don't actually know on those particular names, but I don't think it will be suddenly, oh, we're getting Lopetegui. We need to strategize on, on what type of player and who he wants that you would like to think is part of the due diligence process that you undertake around these managers for weeks and months before even the talks take place. Because a good club like a Brighton for example Liverpool, always forward planning in the case of managers looking at the st and the sort of recruitment that they, they would want and, and so yeah, I'm sure it would have been a topic of conversation during the talks with Lopetegui as well. And, and they'll definitely want to need to hit the ground running if they're going to, you know, satisfy the ambitions of, of a fan base that is demanding and understandably so and competition that is going to be as fierce, if not fiercer than ever going into next season.
- [34:33]
Ayo Akemolere
Tim, let's end on a high. He's agreed terms. Nothing's fully signed yet, so it still might not happen. But you know, what should west ha get really excited about? Let's just finish this off. You know, what should they leave in their heads and thinking if this guy comes and joins us, oh, we will be dot, dot, dot.
- [34:52]
Credit Approval Voice
Oh my goodness.
- [34:55]
JP Morgan Voice
Getting regular Tim Spears analysis apparently.
- [34:57]
Credit Approval Voice
So I think, I think, look, they're going to get a marked difference to the style of football that, that they've been watching over the past couple of years, which I think, I think is the key thing for West Ham fans, right? From, from what I'm told, from what I hear, that's, that's the big issue. It's not necessarily about league position, it's how they, it's how they do it and they're an instant Club West Ham. You know, they sort of. Fans get accused of sort of having ideas above their station maybe a little bit, and, you know, the West Ham way and what on earth is that? But, you know, they moved to this new stadium a few years ago, kind of hoping that they'd be entering a new era of competing with the top six and, you know, no more relegation battles. You know, they have the second highest of tendencies in the country. You know, it's an awful stadium to watch football in, but. But in terms of the amount of people that are in it, it's, it's, you know, it's 20,000. It's, it's. It's 20,000 more. More than Chelsea's. I think it's really good from their point of view that this has been done early. You know, it's May 7th now and it looks like Lopetegui is the man in place that's really important for a big summer of recruitment ahead. And, you know, you look at, you know, the problems that Man United, United may have in the near future. Well, they've got a lot of problems, but, you know, in terms of what happens with their head coach, you look at, you know, the continuing basket case that is Chelsea and what might happen there with Pochettino. You look at Newcastle maybe having a big decision to make over Eddie Howe either in the summer or next season. You know, maybe West Ham with some smart recruitment and Tim Steiner made some really good additions last summer. As David has pointed out, if Lopetegui is backed correctly, he's proven with with Sevilla why he can do consecutive Champions League finishes for three seasons with Sevilla and winning the Europa League. I'm not saying that's going to happen to West Ham, but anywhere something approaching that would be a huge success.
- [36:41]
Ayo Akemolere
Yes, very pragmatic. I like that. Thank you both so much for your time. David, Tim, and also do not forget to rate and review the podcast. Thank you so much for listening back tomorrow.
- [36:53]
Credit Approval Voice
The Athletic Foreign.
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Aura Voice
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