Pellegrini outthinks Klopp to secure West Ham draw

West Ham battled to a well deserved point at home to Liverpool yesterday night. After some criticism recently, Pellegrini showed how clever he can be.

No-one really knows why, but West Ham simply play much better against the big teams. And it appears out manager might think better when he’s playing against the bigger teams as well. Despite lacking a bit of imagination in previous matches, set pieces flair and bespoke personnel selection was obvious to anyone paying attention.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Pellegrini is a different class of manager to what we’ve had recently. Allardyce may have had nice set play routines, Moyes may have put Arnie up front, but they never had the complete package. But against Liverpool, Pellegrini got everything right.

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The first sign that he was thinking differently was Fredericks at right back. Zabaleta has been a staple at right back this season, defying any reports that his age was beginning to drag him down. Fredericks has been in and out with injury, but has pace to burn in any condition. It was immediately clear that the right back was there to stop the pace of Liverpool’s attackers.

The wingers had clearly been given instructions to sit back, wider and just ahead of their full backs, who had tucked in narrow. These two defensive instructions stopped the front three exploiting any space around the box whilst also meaning their full backs had no joy in the attacking third (unless they were offside). The width also meant that it pulled Liverpool’s defensive shape wider than usual, allowing runs from Noble and Snodgrass to find space in the middle.

But the best sign of his thinking was three set plays. The first, to set up Antonio’s goal was great. A simple pass, as well weighted as it was, meant Antonio was in the clear past a static front man, whilst all the Liverpool defenders were occupied at the far post area. The second went back post, with Ogbonna screening the man trying to follow Chicharito’s clever run, leaving him a difficult shot which he got wrong. Then the third which should have lead to a Rice headed goal, but the youngster got it slightly wrong.

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All three were only possible because of Liverpool’s high line and the stance Klopp makes his teams take. Pellegrini is a clever operator and if his players can perform in the “easier” clashes then he will guide them through the tough ones. Let’s hope we can see more of this in years to come.