Two things Manuel Pellegrini must do to get West Ham United back on track
West Ham United’s start to the season has been contradictory to their summer business. The Hammers got a new manager in Manuel Pellegrini, along with several new signings of high-quality to bolster their chances of a better showing this season. However, losing to Liverpool 4-0 and giving away a lead to enduring the same fate against Bournemouth, does seem rather worrisome.
The thing with signing several new players – and having a new manager – is that it takes time for the squad to gel and simultaneously understand new philosophies. West Ham looked rather disjointed against Liverpool, which was understandable as it was their first game. But, they showed signs of the same against Bournemouth as well.
The Hammers travel to Arsenal next weekend, followed by home games to Chelsea and Manchester United, and an away trip to Everton after the international break in September. So, the team must get its act together. Here are the two things Pellegrini must do to get his team back on track:
Sort the defence out
West Ham have conceded 6 goals in 2 games thus far, which makes up for a bad reading for their defenders. The fact that Lukasz Fabianski has made several good saves despite conceding six in two matches, indicates as to how badly the Hammers are defending at the moment. The lack of a strong defence was their Achilles heel last season as well.
Therefore, the first priority for Pellegrini must be to sort the back line out and train them hard. For the Hammers to perform better this time, the defence needs to concede fewer goals and form the basis for attackers to score goals up front.
The manager needs to know the starting XI as soon as possible
There are a lot of advantages for having several new players in the squad. However, the only downfall occurs when the manager fails to identify the best XI to start regularly. For Pellegrini, this is a grave challenge since he must find out as to which of his players he can trust week in week out.
The Chilean has a decent squad to work with, so he needs to ensure that every player is aware of his responsibility in the team.
