As per usual, the Manuel Pellegrini sat down today to give his weekly West Ham squad updates and a look ahead for the match against Sheffield United this weekend.
As expected, he had a lot to talk about. From injury updates, the match ahead, and poor West Ham form from last weekend. The name Felipe Anderson might’ve come up once or twice as well, so hang tight as we break down the weekly presser.
Injury Updates
From the press conference and the West Ham official site, Pellegrini confirmed that Aaron Cresswell will be fully fit for the Tevez Derby against Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon. The Gaffer confirmed stating, “Compared with last weekend, Aaron Cresswell worked the whole week without any problems.”
This is really good news for many fans around West Ham as the English international had been in good form before picking up an injury. The debate has surrounded the left-back slot all season so having Cresswell back is a good sign of things to come.
In regards to the other constant injury question, Winston Reid, Pellegrini was quoted saying “Winston Reid continued his recovery and probably he will play the next game with the U23s on Wednesday, his absence has been too long for him. It’s not easy to be more than a year and a half without playing a game, but he’s a strong man. He’s always working and I hope that this coming week he will play without any problems the game with the U23s.”
The Hammers could use Reid back but obviously the need to rush him isn’t there as their backline is fairly solidified with Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena, and the potential rising of Gonçalo Cardoso.
The Upcoming Match
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This will be the first time the Hammers and the Blades have faced off in the Premier League since the 2006/07 season when Carlos Tevez powered West Ham to Premier League survival on the final day of the season and the Blades lost sending them down to the Championship.
Sheffield has been on an impressive run, for them, especially after their 1-0 win against top side Arsenal last weekend. When asked about the match and the Blades Gaffer, Pellegrini stated, “they reflect his mentality. They are clear in the way they play, have strong players, work for 95 minutes, lots of balls in the box. They know perfectly how to play to their style.”
Pellegrini was also asked if he or others were surprised at how Sheffield United. His response was typical Pellegrini saying “no. When you have a clear style of play (as they do), they will be a consistent team for the whole season. ”
Anderson, Haller, and past performances
Many of us around The Green Street Hammers have stated our concerns about the past run of form and question marks around Felipe Anderson. The Gaffer stared in on Sebastien Haller stating “He has not done bad but he can do better also. He has started better, now he must make more movements inside the box because we need to score more goals.”
When asked about Anderson and the team’s overall consistency he stayed fairly average minded stating the obvious. “It’s hard for every team. Maybe beating Crystal Palace here at home when we had the option to do it, we should be six or seventh in the table. Every game you must play as you are playing the best teams, you must have that mentality.”
The West Ham weekly press conference was filled with positives and negatives with things to work on. For the Hammers, however, they must work on getting a result this weekend but it won’t be easy. This match will be the beginning of a two-game home stand of matches that they should win.