West Ham's Manuel Pellegrini's repetition proving to be insanity

The Definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result.

Rumors are swirling around Manuel Pellegrini’s immediate future as West Ham United’s manager, and rightfully so. For the past two months, Pellegrini has trotted out the same line ups; the same formations, the same (lack of) tactics, and the same substitutions…all with the same results, zero wins. Yet he seems to be expecting three points each time. It’s clearly not working.

Watching these matches week after week has left supporters wondering if they know more football than the Manager does. And it’s a fair question.

Let’s start with the obvious— _Roberto_ in goal. It’s been a disaster, yet Pellegrini keeps him in there. If this was his back up plan to Lukasz Fabianski and now the Hammers are stuck with him, then that right there is a fire-able offense. The manager and Director of Football should have back up plans to their back up plans.

And now the story goes that the board wants to try and weather the current storm until Fabianksi returns and saves the season. That’s a pun. It should never even come to that. And there is much more to this problem than one player in one key position.

The formation Pellegrini prefers and keeps insisting on using isn’t working. Yet he expects the team to respond as if by magic because it’s not his coaching that’s doing the trick. How many more times are we going to see variations of the 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 before they change? Apparently for all 38 matches. As a manager of any team in any sport, the job fundamentally is to have your team prepared and ready to play, to put them in the best positions for success and to win. Three strikes here.

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What about these results is the manager seeing that makes him think that this is working? It is insanity or is it arrogance? The two-week break was a perfect opportunity to try and change formations to see if something would click.

Let’s take a look at the two biggest issues with the club at the moment. Letting in too many goals and not scoring enough. Seems obvious. Playing a three at the back might help the first part, but he refuses to try it. Keeping Sebastian Haller isolated as a lone striker for this entire stretch without even trying a different strategy is a crime. But he has yet to choose a starting XI with a strike partner alongside our record signing from the opening whistle.

Another complaint fans of West Ham are familiar with is that the midfield is continually overrun by opponents. It seems then that packing the midfield with 5 might be a help. Or again, at least worthy of trying. A new-wave formation like a 3-5-2 starting this weekend could be a good shout. Even with Issa Diop out due to suspension Angelo Ogbonna, Fabian Balbuena and Aaron Cresswell could be a back three or insert Winston Reid instead of one of those options.

That would allow for a midfield five of Arthur Masuaku on the wing where he belongs, with Ryan Fredericks on the other side. Declan Rice in the middle and Pablo Fornals and Robert Snodgrass to round things out. Maybe a bit harsh on Andriy Yarmolenko who actually scores a little bit, but the entire point is to change things up.

And then, obviously, Michail Antonio plays alongside Haller up top. What’s not to like?

And one of the most concerning things during this stretch for West Ham is the team’s obvious lack of energy, pace, and desire. It’s the job of the manager to get the club ready to play week after week. If the manager has lost the dressing room and this squad has tuned him out then he has to go sooner rather than later.

I have observed over the years in many sports that unless there is some intense drama going on internally, (The Dimitri Payet saga comes to mind, or the mess that has been swirling around the Spurs this season that cost Mauricio Pochettino his job) then the result of a lost dressing room is usually the fault of the manager. These players are professionals too, and they know how the coach is doing. The players know if the tactics aren’t working; if there are players not being held accountable; if training is too easy (or too hard); or if their leader is out of answers.

Next. Lukasz Fabianski injury update shouldn’t cloud West Ham board. dark

It could be all of those things for West Ham United at this point. But for the first time this season, the club, the players and the Manager seem to be at a real crossroads. If the manager refuses to change or can’t change even the most basic philosophies in the hopes that it the results on the pitch will change, then it truly is insanity for the board to keep him around one more day. Something has to change fundamentally before the results improve.

West Ham’s Manuel Pellegrini’s repetition proving to be insanity

By Jeff Catlin | Nov 26, 2019

The Definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result.

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