Ally McCoist was baffled by Julen Lopetegui’s starting XI choice as West Ham were defeated 3-1 by Leicester City on Tuesday evening. 

The Spaniard made some controversial decisions by dropping Lucas Paqueta, Michail Antonio and Emerson from the start. However, the most confusing decision was his choice to start Vladimir Coufal which meant Aaron Wan-Bissaka started the match out of position at left-back.

Speaking live via talkSPORT, McCoist said: “I thought the team selection versus Leicester was strange. He played Wan-Bissaka at left-back and had Emerson on the bench as he brought Coufal back in.

“Danny Ings was up front. He had a bench of Summerville, Antonio, and Paqueta, who I think is an excellent football player. Making decisions like that with your team, you only get away with it if you win.”

According to credible reports, Julen Lopetegui seems to have fended off the threat of the sack for now as he is expected to be in the dugout at the London Stadium for the six-pointer against Wolves.

The former Real Madrid manager will need to get his team spot on against Wolves on Monday or he will be out of a job. He must get both Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta in the attack alongside Jarrod Bowen. Still, he has a big call on whether to use Bowen as a striker or bring Michail Antonio back into the starting eleven.

It’s hard to see Lopetegui pulling off a masterstroke, even if he did get the starting lineup spot on, but fans also said that ahead of the 2-0 domination of Newcastle three weeks ago so we’ll have to wait and see.

It is likely Lopetegui won’t be West Ham United manager this time next week – Graham Potter, Michael Carrick, Kasper Hjulmand, and Sergio Conceição are all candidates to become the next Hammers manager.