HAMMERS HERO SEB IN FIRING LINE TOO
SEBASTIAN HALLER has been told his eye-catching start at West Ham does not clear him from criticism.
Manuel Pellegrini laid into his players at halftime of the 2-0 defeat against Everton and revealed he could have changed all 11 of them.
That included his £45million signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, who seemed to have settled in quicker than many foreign stars do when arriving in the Premier League.
The striker scored twice in the second game of the season against Watford and has followed that up with goals against Norwich and Crystal Palace.
Despite a return of four goals in his opening eight games, the Hammers boss wants more from him.
“He can do better,” said Pellegrini. “He has started better maybe than we expected, now he must make more movements in the box because we need to score more goals.
“We weren’t doing things well in attack or in defence,” he said of the first half at Goodison. “But we improved and I hope we can be the team of a couple of weeks ago.”
London Stadium, 3pm
IN another life, Enda Stevens might have been a mountaineer because of the heights he has scaled to reach the Premier League.
The Sheffield United defender’s career has been like a game of snakes and ladders and he went from the League of Ireland to Aston Villa, back down to League Two and now up again to the Premier League.
Stevens got his first taste of the big time in 2012 when he joined Villa from Shamrock Rovers after impressing during their historic Europa League run under Michael O’Neill.
He made seven Premier League appearances in five heady months before injury curtailed his Villa career and he was shipped out on loan to EFL clubs Notts County, Doncaster and Northampton. The Dubliner began the long climb back up the ladder when he joined Portsmouth in League Two in 2015 and helped Paul Cook’s side win the title two years later.
Stevens, 29, joined Chris Wilder’s revolution at Sheffield United that summer on a free and the wing-back was a key part of their promotion-winning team last season.
“It’s been a journey, that’s for sure,” said the Republic of Ireland international.
“It’s been good though and hopefully there’s more to come.
“You struggle to see it when you’re down in League One, but after we did so well here the first year, I could sense that we were capable of going one better and getting out of the Championship.
“We had the confidence and the ability last season to do that.
“These kind of opportunities to play in the Premier League don’t come around too often.
“I had a taste of it at Aston Villa and played Man United,
Man City and Arsenal. But then I picked up a knock and by the time I came back from injury, I just never maintained that level of performance required to play in the Premier League.
“I thought that was my last chance, but now I’m back in the Premier League with Sheffield United and I’m loving the opportunity of playing in it again.”
After a nomadic career, which has seen him play for nine different clubs in five different leagues in two countries, Stevens is firmly established in the Premier League and on the international stage.
His next goals are to stay up with the Blades and qualify for Euro 2020 with Ireland.
“Hopefully we will be involved in some big games in the coming months,” said 13-times capped Stevens.
“The aim is to get to a major championship.
“It’s what you watch on TV growing up and it’s something I’d love to experience.”