West Ham’s style revolution under Julen Lopetegui has yet to get underway | West Ham United

The style revolution is slow. West Ham look no less sloppy after swapping David Moyes for Julen Lopetegui, who has a lot to prove after starting his new job producing football that was surprisingly lacking in inspiration, cunning, cohesion, energy and defensive organisation.

It has not been easy to figure out what Lopetegui has tried to do so far. There has been talk of ramping up the entertainment and there have been flashes here and there. Mohammed Kudus had a stirring second-half spell in West Ham’s opening weekend defeat to Aston Villa and there was also a burst of assertive play against Manchester City, who had to fight hard for a 3-1 win.

Still, West Ham is a work in progress. There is no panic yet, but With four points from their opening four games, there is still plenty of room for improvement. They could have had no complaints if they had lost by more points to Villa after being outclassed. They were also lucky not to concede a goal in the first half in their win over Crystal Palace and needed a 95th-minute equaliser from Danny Ings to salvage a point against Fulham at Craven Cottage last Saturday.

Fulham’s rudimentary approach was disconcerting after a summer in which sporting director Tim Steidten oversaw a £100m-plus spend on eight players and brought in two loanees. With Lucas Paquetá on the bench after international duty, Lopetegui played Edson Álvarez and Guido Rodríguez as screening midfielders and Tomas Soucek as a No. 10. Predictably, West Ham were stiff in the first half, their lack of fluidity resulting in them often falling back on passing the ball to Soucek and Michail Antonio.

Those hoping to see an identity had to wait. There was improvement after Paquetá and Crysencio Summerville came on at half-time, but it wasn’t exactly a siege before Ings scored. There needs to be more intensity and creativity when Chelsea visit on Saturday.

Perhaps it would help if Jarrod Bowen played as a central striker, Kudus moved to the right and Summerville, who has not played a league game since joining from Leeds, was deployed on the left. But even that would raise questions about West Ham’s recruitment. All three of their strikers are over 30. Antonio, 34, is no longer the same physical force. Ings, 32, was for sale all summer. Niclas Füllkrug, the 31-year-old striker, is settling into English football.

An Achilles injury sidelined the German striker against Fulham and he was a key figure in Borussia Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final last season. Yet paying £27m for a player of Füllkrug’s age and profile was questionable. Not only is there no resale value, there is also a tactical cost given Füllkrug’s lack of pace. West Ham, who opted not to pay Villa’s asking price for the prolific and much younger Jhon Durán, will find it difficult to stretch teams with the German up front.

That said, it seems that Lopetegui is thinking about aerial attack. The former Real Madrid and Spain manager has placed a lot of emphasis on long transitions of play. There is surprise at some of the tactical instructions. On the other hand, a source with knowledge of Lopetegui’s work in La Liga describes him as a defensive manager. Another says he is not so different from Moyes.

West Ham are looking to expand further. They have grown tired of Moyes’ pragmatism. They conceded 74 league goals last season and needed a change. In Lopetegui’s defence, he has brought back the determination that disappeared at the end of Moyes’ reign and their possession stats have improved.

Yet West Ham aren’t doing much with the ball, partly because their reliance on Paquetá to provide a creative spark has caught up with them. The Brazilian midfielder, who is facing a lengthy ban after being charged with breaching the Football Association’s betting rules, which he denies, has appeared demotivated for some time; he has gone 12 games without scoring or assisting a goal in open play in the league.

This is not to say that West Ham are heading for disaster. But while goals are always within reach when Bowen and Kudus are playing, keeping them out is a problem. West Ham have squandered a worrying number of chances and the defence looks unstable. Konstantinos Mavropanos, signed from Stuttgart last year, is making far too many mistakes alongside Maximilian Kilman in central defence.

Lopetegui’s hope must be that West Ham will be harder to break if Jean-Clair Todibo is ready to start alongside Kilman, who has been flexible since his £40m move from Wolves. This is a team in transition. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has brought Vladimir Coufal in at right-back. New relationships are forming in different areas of the pitch. Todibo is a top talent, even if he didn’t look it when he was left out against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.

There is confidence that everything will turn out well. Lopetegui has managed at the highest level and impressed during his short spell at Wolves. But for now the mood is disappointing. West Ham have invested too much to accept that things are standing still.