Why West Ham United should rely on Manuel Pellegrini to turn the tables
West Ham United spent a lot of money in the summer transfer window and Manuel Pellegrini brought in radical reinforcements to the team. However, their current results have not justified the amount of cash they splashed. West Ham are currently languishing at the bottom of the table and have the worst record among all other teams in the Premier League. The Hammers have lost all four of their matches in the ongoing campaign and are yet to register their first point.
Things do not look any brighter for West Ham under Pellegrini than they did under David Moyes and Slaven Bilic last season. Although the new manager has brought in some heavyweights in the form of Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko, West Ham still have a squad littered with players who are not good enough to play in the Premier League.
The results have proven that one transfer window isn’t enough to turn around the club’s fortunes after the disastrous 2017/18 campaign.
Most of their woes have been down to their lacklustre defending. Fabian Balbuena hasn’t looked like a defender who can withstand the demanding nature of the Premier League while new signing Issa Diop has looked promising but needs time to adapt. Angelo Ogbonna has been far from impressive and has mistimed his tackles more often than not.
Pablo Zabaleta is just a mere shadow of his former self and the Argentine full-back neither has the pace nor the reflexes to cope with opposition attackers. Meanwhile, Robert Snodgrass has been pretty ordinary and wasteful. Jack Wilshere has also not lived up to his potential but to be fair, that could be chalked down to Pellegrini’s decision of playing him as a central defensive midfielder.
Up front, Javier Hernandez has looked like a spent force. Clearly, age has taken a toll on his body and he doesn’t have the same poaching instincts any more.
Pellegrini should tinker with his tactics and experiment with his team dynamics to turn West Ham’s fortunes around. Andriy Yarmolenko was brought from Borussia Dortmund in the summer but he hasn’t been given the opportunity to make much of an impact. If West Ham continue to field a 4-2-3-1 formation, they should accommodate both Felipe Anderson and Yarmolenko. Snodgrass has been too wasteful for Premier League standards and it is time the Scotsman makes way for the big signings.
West Ham have also looked way too sluggish and lacked intent in the central areas of the park in their last game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Carlos Sanchez may be one of the most accomplished central midfielders in the team but the Colombian was guilty of giving the ball away, leading to the goal in injury time.
Pellegrini must shift Wilshere to a more attacking role and replace Sanchez with one of Pedro Obiang, Declan Rice or Mark Noble. Rice, 19, already has a year’s experience in the Premier League level and has looked pretty solid in the limited playtime so far.
Furthermore, West Ham need to improve their work rate in the midfield. In the game against Wolves, there were hardly any players in the box to meet the crosses when Marko Arnautovic drifted to a wide position. The midfielders have to show urgency to get into scoring positions.
Subsequently, Pellegrini should avoid starting with Pablo Zabaleta and persist with Ryan Fredericks in the right-back position. Balbuena and Ogbonna should be benched and youngster Reece Oxford should be given a chance in central defence as he can hardly do any worse. West Ham have already conceded 10 goals from the last four games and the defence is in dire need of some fresh faces.
It is high time that West Ham make some changes and get their campaign back on track to avoid a relegation battle once again. And to make up for lost time, Pellegrini must repay and the fans’ faith. At the same time, the West Ham board must also be wary about making rash decisions.
