West Ham travel to Dean Court this afternoon to face Bournemouth, and Manuel Pellegrini will be eyeing an immediate return to form after Carabao Cup disappointment.
The Hammers lost 4-0 to Oxford United in the league cup third round in humiliating fashion, although they beat Manchester United 2-0 in their game before, a Premier League clash at the London Stadium.
Bournemouth have had some form of their own in recent weeks, beating Everton and Southampton in the Premier League, although they were also dumped from the Carabao Cup by ‘lesser’ opposition in Burton Albion.
The Chilean boss didn’t make any changes to his starting line-up from the win over Manchester United, and some West Ham fans online have questioned his decision not to change things around slightly.
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth Bit annoyed Roberto isn’t starting (@CharlieLevy92)
Twitter: @WestHam @eugene_gaughan @afcbournemouth Masuaku dropped completely (@TonyCOYFI)
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth Fornals again… (@_TomWHUFC)
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth Would’ve preferred Wilshere (@Daniel_Baines19)
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth How does roberto not keep his place after bis performance in the cup (@CallumH53134572)
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth Where’s Masuaku? (@Haydn792)
Twitter: @WestHam @afcbournemouth Considering how injury-prone Cresswell is, it seems pretty stupid to leave Masuaku out of… https://t.co/EghUxu56no (@jamesgunn_)
Read West Ham Verdict
From a neutral perspective, I’d say that if it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it.
Pellegrini made nine changes for the Oxford tie, and we’ve seen how that worked out. But the line-up named against Bournemouth is the exact same eleven that put Manchester United to the sword, which would suggest that the system works.
After abject failure in the cup, it makes sense to revert to a system that has worked before. If the result doesn’t pan out in West Ham’s favour though, then changes will need to be made going forward.
