West Ham may exchange Lopetegui with 4-3-3 supervisor who's Zola 2.0

Julen Lopetegui could possibly be coming to the top of his time at West Ham, having solely joined the membership in July, because the Hammers discover themselves languishing in 14th place within the Premier League after 14 video games performed.

West Ham tackle Wolves on Monday night time for his or her fifteenth Premier League recreation of the season, in a fixture being nicknamed “El Sackico” as a consequence of each groups’ managers’ struggles this marketing campaign.

Ought to Lopetegui’s aspect lose on Monday, West Ham appear prepared to drag the set off, already reportedly having a shortlist of potential replacements, and considered one of these choices would see a shock return to the Premier League.

Maurizio Sarri hyperlinks

Based on experiences from FootMercato, Maurizio Sarri is one title that has been supplied to West Ham, ought to they sack Lopetegui. The 65-year-old has managed within the Premier League earlier than, spending one season at Chelsea in 2018/19, the place he additionally gained the Europa League, beating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku.

Very like Gianfranco Zola who managed the Hammers, it might be one other Italian who has beforehand labored at Chelsea. The Italian is at present and not using a membership, having stop Lazio again in March 2024. Sarri was accountable for Lazio from 2021-2024, averaging 1.64 factors per match, taking cost of 137 video games in his time on the membership.

Maurizio Sarri supervisor report
Membership	Matches	PPM (factors per match)
Sangiovannese	74	1.61
Pescara	43	1.26
Arezzo	22	1.18
Avellino	1	0.00
Hellas Verona	5	0.20
Perugia	18	1.28
Grosseto	10	1.20
Alessandria	36	1.58
Sorrento	17	1.76
FC Empoli	132	1.52
Napoli	148	2.16
Chelsea	63	2.08
Juventus	52	2.12
Lazio	137	1.64
Stats taken from Transfermarkt

The 65-year-old coach had his greatest stints in Italy, together with his most well-known staff being his Napoli aspect, which Pep Guardiola even named “probably the greatest groups I’ve ever confronted”.

Sarri has by no means misplaced to the Irons in his profession, enjoying them twice in his time at Chelsea, profitable as soon as and drawing as soon as. Now the Italian may discover himself within the reverse dugout, and that would make for a really fascinating tactical evolution for the Hammers.

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Maurizio Sarri’s ways

Sarri tends to desire a 4-3-3 beginning formation, with a transparent philosophy based mostly upon holding possession in their very own third, seeking to break the strains with progressive passes, and interchanging attacking actions, with quick, sharp mixture play within the closing third.

In his one season of Premier League soccer, Sarri applied this type at relative velocity, averaging 62.9% possession, which was the second highest within the league behind Manchester Metropolis, who averaged 67.9% possession.

Maurizio Sarri during his time as Lazio manager

This excessive possession, control-based type is one thing West Ham desperately need to implement, since deciding to maneuver on from David Moyes in the summertime. Sarri is the precise sort of coach who would are available, and attempt to do precisely that, sticking to his key ideas, and seeking to rework the Hammers.

A key place in doing this may be the quantity six, typically enjoying the “regista” position for Sarri’s aspect, orchestrating play and controlling the tempo of the sport. While West Ham have loads of gamers who play defensive midfield, their passing qualities and soccer IQ are extraordinarily essential on this position, which may see somebody like Carlos Soler most popular to Edson Alvarez or Tomas Soucek.

One factor is for sure, if West Ham go down the route of hiring Sarri, it might solidify the route they need to go down, implementing a brand new type of play, and sticking to it even when outcomes aren’t going their approach.