Did Pellegrini prepare West Ham incorrectly to play against Newcastle?

Saturday’s match left many confused. Every pundit or follower of West Ham knew how Newcastle liked to play yet Pellegrini chose differently. Were the Hammers prepared correctly?

It is understandable that the EPL is arguably the hardest league in the world, however, surprises still happen. What happened to West Ham when they faced off against Newcastle ended up a surprise when it didn’t need too.

The Newcastle scouting report was clear as day and anyone with a YouTube or Twitter account could see that. They typically play a slow, methodical, Steve Bruce style of attack while collapsing back when the opposing team gets the ball.

With that being said, many thought that all the Hammers would’ve had to do would be to come out with some pace and they would be able to handle the Magpies fairly well. However, that didn’t happen. West Ham came out slow, as usual, and let Newcastle play that to their advantage.

Does that all fall on the Gaffer? No, but if you cannot control what your team does, either you have lost them or something isn’t being done in the locker room or the training grounds. Even though Manuel Lanzini hasn’t been in form as of late, when he came on in the second half you could notice a change including his assist on a beautiful Robert Snodgrass goal.

Also in the Newcastle scouting were the pacey forwards, Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin. These two have been giving teams fits all years even if they weren’t scoring. No offense to Pablo Zabaleta, but he shouldn’t have started Saturday against the pace of these two.

Once Ryan Fredericks came on in the dying minutes the defense seemed to tighten up. It’s a common trend to keep the same starting XI of a winning side but not of one that drew against Sheffield United. This mistake may not have cost the Hammers the match but it sure didn’t help either.

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The three blows that eventually took out the Hammers came from three quiet competitors so far this season. Going back to where West Ham didn’t play with pace and let the Magpies control them comes the resurgence of Jonjo Shelvey.

Shelvey hadn’t played well all year until Saturday, not a shocker to many Hammers fans, but the once English international came though on a booming free-kick that should’ve been saved by Roberto. The other two goals came from corners and as per usual the West Ham defense and Roberto looked nonexistent.

The squad may have not played with heart, care, or any type of passion but that eventually falls on the Gaffer. The lack of pressure set pieces, and preparedness on free kicks come from a lack of training of emphasis on it during training and fall back on the Gaffer.

Next. Poor player grades all around for West Ham this week. dark

Yes the squad might not have given there all and yes there does need to be a response, but if Pellegrini keeps responding the same way, he’s sure to lose the team and eventually the fans. So the answer to the title is yes and from top to bottom it needs to change.