Lopetegui calling for West Ham consistency
Julen Lopetegui has endured a tough start to his West Ham reign, but will be hoping to return to winning ways against Brentford.
Julen Lopetegui believes West Ham have deserved more than just four points from their opening five Premier League games but called on his players to be more clinical in front of goal.
The Hammers exited the Carabao Cup in midweek against Liverpool despite taking the lead, with a second-half collapse seeing them end up on the wrong end of a 5-1 defeat at Anfield.
Lopetegui has endured a frustrating start to his West Ham tenure thus far but is hoping that a victory against Brentford this weekend will kick his side into gear.
"I am sure that these players will overcome but it is true that we need one win, and we want to win the next match,” Lopetegui said.
"Brentford are a strong team and we have to head into the match with big energy and commitment. In the Premier League, each match is very difficult for every team.
"We have had good moments, but we need to be more consistent to make sure we win matches.
"In the matches we have lost we have deserved more, but I repeat, we have lost them, and we don’t find excuses, and we have to improve."
Another manager hoping to see his side rediscover their goal-scoring touch is Brentford’s Thomas Frank after seeing his team lose to Tottenham last time out.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring with just 23 seconds on the clock for the visitors, only for Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and James Maddison to respond to relieve the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
While the Bees head coach acknowledged the gulf between both sides, he said that his problems have not been made easier with the absence of some of his key players.
"I'm very pleased with the performance, I think we did a lot of good things,” Frank said. "We need to take those chances if we want to get something here, playing against a very good team who have performed well over the first five games.
"We are playing against a team whose end stand is bigger than our stadium in terms of capacity. That shows the difference. No complaints.
"It's my job to put a competitive team out there but it doesn't help when we have five potential starters out."
