‘Pressure is part of manager’s life’ – Lopetegui

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West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui said under-fire managers should not complain about pressure as he prepared to face Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag in a battle of bosses in the hot seat.

The Hammers head into Sunday’s match at home to United on the back of a 4-1 defeat by Tottenham.

That was a fourth loss in eight Premier League games for Lopetegui’s inconsistent side this season.

West Ham’s spluttering run has turned the spotlight on former Real Madrid boss Lopetegui, who took over before the start of the campaign from David Moyes.

The Spaniard is facing questions about whether he is the right man for the job, while Ten Hag is fighting to avoid the sack after a miserable start to his third season at Old Trafford.

Speculation over the United manager’s future mounted after Thursday’s Europa League draw at Fenerbahce left his team with only one win in their last seven games in all competitions.

But Lopetegui said: “When you become a coach, you live with pressure always. This is normal, and sometimes it is good too. It is our kind of life.

“I think that all the coaches, we are under pressure always, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the last matches. But I am not going to talk about one colleague or another club. I can talk about me.

“We are going to play against a very big team — Manchester United is one of the best teams in the world. We have to be ready to face them and work hard to be beat them.”

Accepting West Ham “didn’t have the best start” to the season, Lopetegui insisted he would eventually get it right at a club currently 15th in the Premier League.

“We are sure we are doing the steps ahead and are going to be able to arrive at the end of the season in the position we want to be,” he told reporters on Friday.

© Agence France-Presse

Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images

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