West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui was left requiring crutches after injuring himself in the dugout during Wednesday evening’s Carabao Cup hammering against Liverpool.
The Hammers manager oversaw his heaviest defeat since taking on the job in pre-season as Arne Slot’s Liverpool dominated the Anfield encounter to earn a 5-1 win that knocked West Ham out of the competition.
Lopetegui was already feeling emotionally pained with Liverpool leading the game 3-1 after Diogo Jota scored twice and Mohamed Salah added a third and hurt himself when his players wasted a chance to claw a goal back.
Summer signing Crysencio Summerville missed a chance in front of goal as West Ham trailed by two and Lopetegui reacted by jumping up into the air in exasperation at the wasted effort.
The 58-year-old suffered a problem with his calf when landing back in the dugout and later limped into his post-match press conference after receiving treatment at full-time.
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui was left requiring crutches after injuring himself in the dugout against Liverpool
The 58-year-old confirmed he had hurt himself as he limped into his post-match press conference at Anfield
West Ham crashed out of the Carabao Cup after suffering a dismal 5-1 defeat against the Reds
Mail Sport later learned that Lopetegui’s injury left him needing the use of crutches after the match.
Lopetegui spent the rest of the match sat down in the technical area after hurting himself and later confirmed he had hurt his leg during the show of emotion in the technical area.
‘I have one little injury in my calf,’ he admitted after limping into the room for his post-match press conference.
‘I don’t think that we deserve this score. I think that we have been in the match, in a lot of moments, even better than them.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot (middle) watched his side earn a dominant victory in the League Cup
‘I prefer not to talk about the referee. It is very clear for me the decisions have been against us and the key decisions.
‘But in the end when we had chances to score we didn’t do. To win these kind of matches you have to stay close.
‘After the third goal and the red card it was much more difficult. The last part of the match was very bad for us.’ he added.
The Hammers boss will be hoping to have made a full recovery so he can take his place at the side of the pitch in the weekend’s Premier League clash against Brentford.