'They showed me': Thierry Henry claims West Ham's players did something he hadn't seen all season last night
12/17/2024 02:35 AM
Julen Lopetegui has gone some way to relieving the intense pressure he was facing at West Ham United given the side's past two Premier League performances.
Lopetegui is far from being home and dry at West Ham, but a victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers followed by a strong display away to Bournemouth has lifted the mood.
The Vitality Stadium has been an incredibly tough ground to visit this season – Andoni Iraola's side have already beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at home.
And credit to Lopetegui's side, they were only minutes away from stealing all three points, in part thanks to the brilliance of Lukasz Fabianski in goal.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 12 | NewcastleNewcastle | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 21 | 2 | 23 |
| 13 | Man UtdManchester United | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 22 |
| 14 | West HamWest Ham | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 29 | -8 | 19 |
| 15 | Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 16 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 16 |
| 16 | EvertonEverton | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 15 |
Thierry Henry seriously impressed by West Ham’s ‘resilience’ vs Bournemouth
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry was on the Sky Sports panel discussing West Ham's performance on Monday Night Football.
And he too recognised the progress that Lopetegui's side demonstrated in the 1-1 draw, a performance that the pundit had not seen from West Ham so far this season.
Henry was delighted with the Hammers' resilience on the road, ending his thoughts by saying that Lopetegui deserved more time.
He said: "They showed me something that I didn’t see for a little while at West Ham, especially this season.
"They showed me that they could play and at one point they had to be resilient, away from home, against a team that at times is going to push them, they did.
"At times your goalkeeper is going to come and save you on the night but they showed me two phases of their game that they didn’t show me for a very long time.
"They were minutes away, apart from that free-kick to win back-to-back games so it would have been a great result.
"I hope that they can give him [Lopetegui] time to perform and show what he is about."
Julen Lopetegui deserves more time at West Ham
Recently, there's actually been talk about West Ham re-signing David Moyes given their struggles this season.
David Sullivan isn't thought to be considering the move and there could actually be renewed hope regarding Lopetegui's future after all.
Without getting carried away, Mohammed Kudus has made a real difference since he's returned, and Jarrod Bowen is once again doing a brilliant fill-in job of leading the line.
The Hammers now have two crucial Premier League games before they face Liverpool and Manchester City either side of the New Year celebrations – four games which Lopeteugi may need at least two wins from.
