Julen Lopetegui 'not happy' with two things as West Ham held by Everton with Jordan Pickford claim made

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui was not happy with his side’s first-half performance in their 0-0 draw with Everton on Saturday afternoon and was also unsatisfied with his team’s lack of aggressiveness when pressing the Toffees.

The hosts came closest to scoring during the game when summer signing Crysencio Summerville struck the post while Jordan Pickford was on hand to provide strong stops that thwarted Jarrod Bowen, Guido Rodriguez and Danny Ings. The result leaves the Hammers with 12 points from their opening 11 games.

Lopetegui reflected: “Our aim was to win the match and we deserved to win the match - we had enough chances to do so. Pickford was their best player in my opinion. He did three or four saves, very good saves, and we also hit the post. But I think that despite this, I was not happy with the first half because we can't [give a] gift to the opponent for 45 minutes. Okay, we defended well but it was not enough. That's why I was not happy with the first half. Not because they deserved to win or they had a chance. No, because I think that we didn't show the energy and the character that we needed.

He continued: “The personality and the energy of the team has to there be from the start of the match and we didn't make the right decisions about our distances to be more aggressive in the press. We were late [in the press] so I was not happy with this, but I think in the second half we did very well. It was not enough, but we can look at a positive thing - the clean sheet and the chances that we had. Now we have to wish the best of the players that go with their countries in this break, crossing our fingers that they come back well and be ready for the next challenge.”

The result saw the Irons booed off at the full-time whistle but the West Ham manager insists he is used to working under pressure. He added: “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.”