Pellegrini sticks to his break
West Ham United’s backing of Manuel Pellegrini has extended to the manager feeling secure enough to stick to his plan of returning home during the international break and giving his players time off.
Four straight Premier League defeats have caused panic among fans, but that has not yet extended into the club’s boardroom.
It had always been Pellegrini’s intention to travel back to Chile to visit his family and to give his players a rest after the Wolverhampton Wanderers game. It has not been confirmed when the 64-year-old will be back, but West Ham’s players will return to training in the middle of the week as they attempt to rectify their problems.
Pellegrini hopes that the break will not only mean he and his players return physically refreshed, but also in a better mental condition following the late defeat by Wolves and the resulting criticism.
Crystal Palace sacked Frank de Boer after he lost his first four games in charge last season, but the West Ham co-owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, have always insisted they back their managers and recognise Pellegrini needs to be given time. An improvement will be expected but there remains optimism that, having given him £100million to spend in the summer, Pellegrini will get it right.
Only four first-team players, Marko Arnautovic, Andriy Yarmolenko, Lukasz Fabianski and Robert Snodgrass, are on international duty.