With his feet to the fire and his replacements lining up, Manuel Pellegrini needed to make effective changes heading into Chelsea away. Here are three things he did well that helped secure a West Ham win.
Make a keeper change
This was the most obvious, but Pellegrini had shown in weeks past that he was stuck in on Roberto being the West Ham keeper to replace Lukasz Fabianski in his injury absence. Roberto allowed 15 goals in his time as starting keeper, in just seven matches which includes back-to-back-to-back games with three goals allowed.
David Martin and Joseph Anang were both believed to have been training in full this week, splitting duties as starting keeper with the first team at Rush Green. Still, there was no guarantee that Roberto wouldn’t be in goal when the match kicked off.
The official teamsheet was released and a collective sigh of relief came over the West Ham world as Martin drew the start. What would follow was a nervy but conversely calm performance from the 33-year-old Premier League debutant, who secured a clean sheet and got to celebrate with his Hammers legend father Alvin.
Switch up the formation
More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham
- Brighton vs West Ham predictions: Can James Ward-Prowse help end the curse?
- West Ham and two Premier League rivals made huge transfer stand
- Lucas Paqueta bet allegations discussed in West Ham and Man City transfer talks
- Bournemouth vs West Ham predictions: Premier League opener amid transfer chaos
- West Ham near Denis Zakaria transfer after final James Ward-Prowse bid
It was minimal, but the formation was tweaked in this lineup, and quite noticeably so. Instead of the 4-1-4-1 that the Hammers have deployed in every single match this season, Mark Noble stayed back and played defensive midfield alongside Declan Rice. This allowed for the front four in the 4-2-3-1 formation to stay higher and attack with better speed.
As well, Pablo Fornals got the start at left-midfield where he picked up an assist on Aaron Cresswell‘s beautiful goal. He swapped spots with Felipe Anderson who floated out of the #10 position, often switching with Robert Snodgrass and Fornals.
The biggest decision that actually paid off was Pellegrini choosing to drop £45m striker Sebastien Haller for Michail Antonio. Antonio was physical and lively all match (until his substitution), getting three shots (two on target) excluding a VAR called back goal. Haller featured as a sub, but Antonio may keep him on the bench for some time.
Impactful managing
Rumors emerged this week that Pellegrini wasn’t taking the relegation possibility seriously with the club at the moment. He certainly didn’t act like this, however, as he upped his touchline communication and visibly showed emotion and passion from the sideline. As mentioned above, he made difficult decisions with Haller and flipping Anderson and was clearly invested in this match.
To boot, Pellegrini also made impactful, tactical substitutions! It doesn’t sound like much, but in recent matches, the subs used have looked more like guesses than game plan decisions. To see Arthur Masuaku get on the pitch in a midfield role was bold. To play Haller after benching him to start was brash. To get Andriy Yarmolenko on the pitch with Snodgrass why adjusting to a 4-4-1-1 on the fly was inspired.
If there were doubts over Manuel Pellegrini’s management before this game, the performance by the gaffer today quelled some rage (this coming from a Pellegrini out-er). All supporters want to see is dynamic management and passion on the pitch. It was near perfect today and instigated by a new-look Pellegrini.