Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PREMIER LEAGUE PELLEGRINI IS MR BIG
Pell insists his Hammers are now playing the game his way... like one of the Prem giants
MANUEL PELLEGRINI has warned his West Ham winners to avoid going too gung-ho at Craven Cottage tonight as they chase a fourth consecutive victory.
The Chilean started his return to the Premier League with four straight defeats.
But the former Manchester City boss has since transformed the side to play like a “big team” – and has seen his players score nine goals in their last three wins.
Before facing bottom side Fulham in a run of winnable games, Pellegrini said he wants the Hammers to balance all-out attack with a disciplined defence.
“We are on the way to playing like a big team in that we have a lot of improvements in personality, especially when we go to play away,” he said.
“It was my mentality I tried to bring here to this club. You must try to score in every game as much as you can and not because you score one you then go close to your box and try to defend. I think the players are enjoying what we are doing and the way we are playing.
“We always go for the game from the first minute to the last minute and try to attack and try to score before the home team.
“So there are a lot of things that I can say we are playing as a big team but there are a lot of things we must improve, especially when you want to attack, there is a lot of space behind so you must be very careful to be a balanced team, be careful of counter-attack, so we must continue improving and I hope we will do it.”
After facing Fulham, the 11th-placed Hammers host Watford and then visit Southampton and Burnley. Brighton and Birmingham – in the third round of the FA Cup – are the first visitors of the New Year before Arsenal come calling on January 12.
“I think that the most stupid thing we can do is believe if you are playing against teams at the bottom it will be easy,” insisted Pellegrini.
“We need to play against these teams away and at our stadium, all the teams want to win points especially those in the relegation zone, so we must be very careful.
“We are thinking game by game. We are playing against Fulham and the three points are important and I hope we can do a good game.
“Football is for moments and we are in a good moment and the difficulty is to continue that moment.”