With a lot of first-team players returning from injuries, West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has pumped the breaks on a first-team overhaul for the Manchester City game. Expect more of the same for the Irons’ midweek matchup.
Pellegrini isn’t one to keep his cards close to his chest, is he? Maybe he’s playing some games with Pep Guardiola ahead of the West Ham/Manchester City match, but Pellegrini confirmed that there won’t be much in the way of first-team changes for the mid-week matchup unless injury plays a part.
"“We will see [if I make any changes against City]. I have not decided yet. We will see who recovers the best. I will also talk with the medical staff. We will decide the starting XI [on Tuesday].”"
In an effort to balance the team that will play Manchester City and the team that will host Newcastle just 72 hours later, it seems the winning side at Fulham will get the runout against the League leaders, with tweaks to be made for the Magpies:
"“[The squad] is similar [from the Fulham match for Wednesday’s game], we don’t have any new injuries, we have the same players available.”"
It makes sense to keep a winning team together, but against a team as good as Manchester City, Pellegrini could and should be pushed to start the game with his first two substitutions used against Fulham.
Two Changes to be Expected
Maybe it was a vacation hangover, too much time off, or lack of starting minutes recently, but Pablo Zabaleta was atrocious in his first half action against Fulham. The defensive star for West Ham was uncharacteristically sloppy and sent in Ryan Babel alone just 40 seconds into the match. Luckily this was saved, but soft fullback play just a minute later would see Babel score.
When Ryan Fredericks came on at halftime West Ham looked rejuvenated. He was probably dropped to get Zab some easier minutes against Fulham and allow Fredericks to star fully fit ahead of Manchester City. If that’s the case look for similar tactics to those the Hammers used against Liverpool – match speed with speed and stretch the game.
The other is Javier Hernandez for Marko Arnautovic. Chicharito has done nothing to deserve getting dropped, let’s make that clear. But, you have to take into account how Manchester City are going to line up and use your best tools to win the match. Arnautovic’s physicality and speed will make him an asset to West Ham attack, aspects Chicharito’s game doesn’t offer.