Monday, April 15

Why do West Ham only turn it on against the big sides?

One of the improvements Pellegrini has made is that WHU are performing better against the top six sides. We've seen two memorable wins at the London Stadium against Man United and Arsenal, creditable draws with Liverpool and Chelsea, a narrow defeat to Spurs and a 0-4 reverse against Man City which wasn't as one-sided as the score suggests. Away from home we've lost by just one goal at Man City, ran Chelsea close in the second half at Stamford Bridge before losing 2-0, took the lead at Arsenal before losing 3-1 and were tremendously unlucky not to win at Old Trafford. The only real hammering was the 4-0 defeat at Anfield in the opening game.

All of which makes our league position of 11th very frustrating. West Ham have usually been able to beat the bottom sides at Stratford but have invariably lost to the mid-table teams around us. This probably says something about the mindset of the players, that they can turn it on in the big games but aren't always up for it against the best of the rest. Top players at Man City and Liverpool treat a game against Everton, Watford or Bournemouth just the same as a game at Man United. Pellegrini has to get a squad of players that show similar professionalism.

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