Former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has hit out at Manuel Pellegrini after seeing the Hammers fall to a 4-0 defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Pellegrini was announced as the new manager in May before overseeing as many as 10 new signings ahead of the new Premier League season, with five of these signings being given their debut at Anfield.
Before the ball had even been kicked Pellegrini had noted that he wanted the squad to play his way rather than defending from the start.
While the tactics were a bold move, it wasn’t long before Mohamed Salah knocked one past new keeper Lukasz Fabianski, followed by a double from Sadio Mane and the final nail in the coffin from Daniel Sturridge in the 88th minute.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, ‘Big Sam’ was quick to note that Pellegrini needs to turn things around quickly if he is to see out his three-year contract with the Irons.
West Ham going and attacking like they did is never going to work when you’ve got those players. It’s a little similar to watching Chelsea versus Huddersfield – Huddersfield having a go and Chelsea picking them off. These players are that good, you leave them that space, they expose you.
Allardyce, who managed West Ham from 2011-2015, identified one area that the team need to improve on quickly.
Certainly West Ham left too much space between the midfield and the back four and Liverpool kept sliding in between the lines and punished them rightfully so. You can’t expect too much sometimes from all those new players being involved in the team immediately. They need time – and the only way you get time as a manager is by getting results. Nobody will be patient for you.
Seven players have been brought in, they spent heavily, they need to click almost immediately. That’s going to be a big test for Pellegrini. He’s got a great reputation so hopefully he can do it for West Ham and give the players that have been bought the sort of football and results that they want.
