Julen Lopetegui vows West Ham’s fortunes will soon change as pressure builds
The Hammers were booed off at full-time.
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Your support makes all the difference.Julen Lopetegui claimed the future is still bright for West Ham despite a dull goalless draw with Everton failing to lift the gloom at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were booed off at full-time after a performance which did little to lift the pressure on their Spanish manager following their poor start to the season.
But Lopetegui felt his side deserved more after Jordan Pickford’s late save from Danny Ings secured a point for fellow strugglers Everton.
“My reflection was that in the 95 minutes we played we deserved to win, with the chances we had, above all in the second half,” said Lopetegui.
“I was not happy with the first half. It was not enough. But the positive thing is we had a clean sheet and enough chances to score and to win the match.
“That was very clear, maybe one of the best players out there was Pickford. But we didn’t score and maybe the only frustration is I think the first half we can do better. We need better attitude and energy.
“I always work under pressure, this is not new. I’m very happy with the commitment of the players, I’m very happy with the club.
“I repeat, we are sure that we are not happy with our position but we are sure we are going to be able to finish higher. I assure you a lot of things change in a few months. We are sure we are going to be able to do that.”
West Ham came closest to breaking the deadlock when Crysencio Summerville, the best player in claret and blue, rattled a post.
Pickford made decent stops from Jarrod Bowen and Guido Rodriguez but the pick of the bunch was a flying save to tip Ings’ deflected drive over the crossbar in stoppage time.
“Good point, good clean sheet, solid performance,” was Sean Dyche’s take on a forgettable encounter.
“We couldn’t find that edge in the final third or that bit of devil which could have made a difference.
“We didn’t give much up away from home and in the end we’ve come away slightly wondering ‘is that one we could have won?’.
“But equally Jordan has made a fine save to make sure we got a point. I don’t think he’d had much to do other than stay focused.
“He had one other save but I think it was a save that you’d expect from him and I did commend him on that.
“At the end just staying calm and focused to what the game offers you and he did that in a very fine reaction.
“I haven’t seen it back but from where I was it looks really sharp. Fair play to him, a top keeper doing what top keepers should do.”