West Ham: David Moyes question hangs over Julen Lopetegui amid alarm over Hammers form

It has been an excellent month for the reputations of Gareth Southgate and David Moyes.

Southgate is not a mean-spirited man but he must have raised a small smile at England's car-crash performance in the 2-1 defeat to Greece under his successor Lee Carsley a fortnight ago.

Carsley's experimental lineup at Wembley went a long way to justifying Southgate's reluctance to cram all of England's mercurial No10s into the same team at the expense of fundamentals such as structure, balance, a focal point and midfielders.

Moyes, meanwhile, is surely experiencing a strange sense of Deja vu at West Ham's miserable start to the season, which continued with a 4-1 defeat to rivals Tottenham on Saturday.

For the second time, the Hammers replaced Moyes in the summer with a supposedly more progressive coach and, so far, Julen Lopetegui's tenure is following the same course as that of Manuel Pellegrini, who lasted a little over a year before the club went crawling back to the Scot. Be careful what you wish for, indeed.

There are obvious parallels between Southgate and Moyes, who both scaled new heights in their most recent jobs by prioritising results over style.

Moyes led West Ham to a first major trophy in 43 years and three seasons of heady European runs after years of relegation battles, while Southgate twice took England to within touching distance of winning the European Championship and a World Cup semi-final.

There are also, perhaps, parallels between West Ham and England supporters, both groups seemingly conditioned by past glories to demand a certain standard, in spite of decades of underperformance.

Which does beg the question of whether Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters have a lot to answer for.

It is still early days for Lopetegui, who plainly deserves more time, but as his side were overrun in the second half at Tottenham, it was hard to make the case that this version of the Hammers is any sort of upgrade on Moyes' solid but unspectacular team.

It is fantastic to be entertained, of course, and there is always a case for pursuing stylish football. But, equally, the Hammers' smash-and-grab at Spurs under Moyes last season must have been a hugely satisfying occasion for supporters. Winning ugly can be fun, too.

West Ham's identity under the former Real Madrid and Spain coach is still unclear; their attack is dysfunctional, their defence leaky and the midfield painfully slow.

Midfielder Guido Roriguez is still adapting to the Premier League, while Lopetegui has barely used summer signings Carlos Soler and Luis Guilherme, which is threatening to become a major sticking point with fans.

The manager will now have to do without forward Mohammed Kudus for at least three matches after his meltdown and red card at the weekend, and there is still the ongoing uncertainty over Lucas Paqueta's situation following the allegations of match-fixing.

There is also mounting scrutiny on West Ham's technical director Tim Steidten after £120million of spending on nine new signings, none of whom have started especially well.

Most importantly, heat from supporters is likely to be directed towards the owners if West Ham's poor form continues; Moyes was not perfect but he was a useful shield for the board, his divisive approach occupying supporters and diverting attention away from chairman David Sullivan and Co.

In fairness to Lopetegui, West Ham were abject under Moyes for most of the 2022/23 season while the manager bedded in a raft of new signings but they gelled in time for a famous triumph in the Europa Conference League. Lopetegui has already asked fans to judge him in May, which seems optimistic but not entirely unreasonable.

Still, you already wonder if West Ham will be lurching back towards a safe pair of hands and a more pragmatic coach at some point in the not-too-distant future. Surely hiring Moyes for a third time is out of question, but Southgate might be available.