Former Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui has been speaking to the Spanish media about his short spell as the club's Head Coach.
Talking in an interview with AS, the 58-year-old admitted once again how disappointed he was to lose his job just a matter of months after being installed as David Moyes' successor.And he admitted that his target had not been to secure a European spot, but simply to end the season in the upper half of the table.
"At the time [of my dismissal], we had a feeling of disappointed," he began. "The team was where it should have been, understanding the circumstances.
"The second half of the season was going to be better. The team was 13th [when I was sacked] and had a chance of finishing ninth or 10th, which I think is where we should be. That was the idea of the first year, to get to know each other better.
"We lost to Liverpool and Manchester City, playing a great game against the latter. We had two in a row at home against teams from our league - and we were a long way from relegation.
"I was surprised by the dismissal because we had the commitment of the players. We were in a moment of change. We accepted it. West Ham is a club with different shareholders and we had a very good relationship with all of them. None of them told us we were in danger [of losing our jobs]."
And Lopetegui - correctly or otherwise - believes he retained the backing of the fanbase, despite the abject results. "We felt the affection of the people," he claimed.
"It is a very large fan base, with a stadium with an average of 64,000 spectators, more or less. The expectation of the beginnings is sometimes not real. Our idea was to change things. To go towards another form of footballer. Having new players to adapt to.
"The absence of [Jarrod] Bowen in some games was essential. A lot of things happened to us. We had two bans in a row of three and five games to Mohammed Kudus and Edson Álvarez. Niclas Fullkrug's injury occurred as soon as he arrived.
"But even so, with 18 games played we had 23 points. We were close to where we wanted to be. In our league games we only lost to Leicester, which was actually a 5-0 [to us] game. In fact, we still hold the season record with 34 shots and 22 chances that day.
"The team was on an upward trend. We lost against Liverpool, yes, but until the 0-1 we had been better. Then they ran over us, like everyone else. We were working on correcting those goals, on how to face the games against big teams."
However when asked to describe his relationship with the similarly-departed Tim Stediten, Lopetegui's response was altogether different.
"I'm not going to talk about him," he responded. "I have always had a good relationship with all the sporting directions in which I have been, even having differences.
"I know that in a club you can't give the keys to a coach, but I've always been a club man. That's why I prefer to ignore that person, to be honest."
Yet his experience in east London doesn't appear to have dampened Lopetegui's enthusiasm for England or the Premier League.
"The Premier League is the best league," he insisted. "It has the greatest economic capacity and the best coaches, while on an organizational level they do it very well.
"If you want to watch football, you have to go to the game. That thing of sitting at home and watching games, games and more games... it is not possible there.
"Going to the countryside has a special and familiar flavour. That is why all the stadiums are full. People also travel a lot with the team; away teams may take 6,000 or 7,000 fans. It's very beautiful."
And even though he has rejected at least two offers to return to management since leaving London, Lopetegui maintains that he is in no hurry to return to the dugout.
"Let's see what happens," he said. "As soon as we left West Ham we had two good proposals but we decided to wait. The Belgium job? it wasn't the right time.
"I want to go to a place where I can feel that I am developing what I have inside me as a coach, to try to contribute as much as possible to generate continuous demand and the best synergies and habits in order to build very competitive projects.
"I've also had very important offers from Saudi Arabia. When the time comes, we will decide, but always from the feeling of being able to contribute to a competitive project."
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