Pellegrini Confirmed as West Ham Manager (22.05.18) - already (September) there are doubters

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  • baracks

    Don’t want to see him being landed with Yaya and Nasri
    If he can be 'landed' with anyone, we've appointed the wrong man.

    As I said, I'm sure he will get to sign players, but I won't accept not signing big players as an excuse. He needs to be able to do better with our current lot, and allowing signings (or lack of them) as an excuse for not being able to do so is lowering the bar, imo.
  • From first presser:
    “I think West Ham has a very good team. I know all of the players and I saw most of the games that they played last season, so I am sure that, with the players we have in this moment in the squad, and bringing maybe another four or five players in, we are going to have a strong team.”
    Read more at http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2018/may/22-may/pellegrini-i-am-excited-about-west-ham-project#YpoUvDAOxs8WgOYx.99
  • edited May 2018
    I think it's actually a risky appointment, but I find it hard, at face value, to say he is a worse manager than Moyes. So, in that sense, he is an improvement; so far, so good.

    But it is risky in the sense that his recent career experience is with Real Madrid & Man City, two vastly superior teams with lots of financial clout, before he (semi) retired to China. His records with Villarreal & Malaga give me hope, but like the classic "Sam & has Bolton days" or "Moyes & his glory days at Goodison", those stints were a while ago now, and he was a lot younger, still making a name for himself.

    My other concern is that his focus on attacking football may get the salivary glands going, but given how bad we've defended for a few years now (even Moyes couldn't stem some of this, & he's deemed a defensive coach), is it the right appointment for the personnel we have? The PL is no longer a 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 league unless you are one of the top sides, & even they all play a variation on 4-3-3.

    I'm excited in a curious kind of way, but Rafa would've been the safer appointment. You'd know with him, we'd be almost guaranteed to finish top 10. Is Pellegrini motivated to return to the glory days of Malaga, building a side relatively quickly & successfully? Will we be a side that ships goals but always looks to score one more than the opposition? Is he firm enough (reports of relaxed training regimes at Man City & Madrid)?

    At 64, although not old, he's clearly not being appointed in the hope he's here for a decade.

    A brave appointment. His CV certainly speaks for itself. Let's see what he can do.

    coyi
  • Sounds like he has being given assurances for a few players then which is nice !

    Hopefully he can identify a few gems and plug that defence.
  • What !

    Are we already lining our ducks up in a row if there isnt the transfer budget we need and expect from the board. That the coach wont have been good enough to achieve his objectives with our current squad ??
    The team needs a major overhaul and a lot of money spent on it, a couple of good performances over the last couple of games doesn't cut it for me. We do need some Big players, it depends on what we qualify as big , but at the very least, players that are admired elsewhere/ scouted by us over time, and of international standard or potential.
    And that will require investment over and above anything we have done so far.
  • I agree in some respects but don’t get the theory with Rafa you guaranteed top ten, and don’t believe you win what he’s won with a relaxed training and not being firm I’m excited by this and can’t wait to see his addictions to the squad
  • edited May 2018
    My mentality is always to have a winning mentality and I will hope that I can repeat here what I did with all my clubs here in Europe, where I have always arrived in European competition.
    Read more at http://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2018/may/22-may/pellegrini-i-am-excited-about-west-ham-project#hGbhhdZTb7UWes2f.99

    He's been given a 3-year contract, so reading into this comment, and what I expect is that over that time he will get us regularly challenging for European places (even if we don't manage it in each of the 3 years).


    Also, we're officially a 'project' now. Is that a good thing, Ted?
  • I'm hoping (and expecting) that he can add value to the current squad by being a better coach and tactician than our 2 former managers. (Otherwise, what's the point.)

    I'm hoping (but not expecting) that he can also add value to our transfer budget by being a bit of an added attraction for players who might not have considered coming to West Ham - or not within our budget anyway - and perhaps get one (or two even) over the line for us.

    No more ;jarvis
  • edited May 2018
    I don't think you should expect him to achieve better with no financial backing & the same squad. I don't think that determines him as a good manager. Part of a managers remit is to not just coach & get the best out of players but also to identify & sign players who add value. We have bought horrendously over the past two years, bar Arnautovic.

    Bringing in good players that make us stronger is all part of the experience & value he brings. Obviously I would expect him to get better performances out of players who didn't reach their best last season (Lanzini, Hernandez, Cresswell, Kouyate).

    But, equally, he may just decide those players aren't good enough & want to upgrade them with signings. Whichever way he goes, both are reasons why we have traded Moyes in for him.
  • edited May 2018
    Luke, that's kind of what I meant.... I do expect us to sign new players. But I also want him to get the existing players playing better. Whether that's by tweaking the formation slightly, converting someone to a new position, creating a new partnership, whatever. (I don't know, or else it would be ME getting paid the big bucks ;biggrin )


    (Obviously, it won't be possible to compare like for like, because 'his' team won't be the same as the 'old' team. ;ok )
  • Lukerz said:

    The PL is no longer a 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 league unless you are one of the top sides, & even they all play a variation on 4-3-3.

    Burnley played a 4-4-2 successfully last season, and Leicester won the league playing 4-4-2, so I don't think it's a formation you can't play.

    When we looked at the stats the other week (can't remember which thread) it was pretty apparent that we have been poor defensively for a while, but that when we attack we are able to compensate that. Whilst I would like us to have a better defence, it may well be that Pellegrini adopts the 'attack is the best form' approach, which has actually been the case for us for a while now.
  • Dont Bournemouth also play 442
  • bbb

    Are we already lining our ducks up in a row if there isnt the transfer budget we need and expect from the board. That the coach wont have been good enough to achieve his objectives with our current squad ??
    Since no one said that, the answer would be 'No'.

    Lukerz

    I don't think you should expect him to achieve better with no financial backing & the same squad.
    Why not? Isn't he a better coach?

    I'm assuming he will get money for players, but my point is that if he isn't better than what we have had, what was the point in appointing him?

    And if he is better than previous managers, he should be able to do better with the same players.

    If people are saying that if we had had Pellegrini last season we still would have done no better, then I don't see what he brings to the club that is different.
  • I am finally genuinely excited by this appointment
  • 4-4-2 comes in an out of fashion all the time.
  • alderz said:

    <


    When we looked at the stats the other week (can't remember which thread) it was pretty apparent that we have been poor defensively for a while, but that when we attack we are able to compensate that.

    pg 46 of the old 'new manager' thread.


    (I'm going to keep these charts, for later comparison!! )
  • “I think West Ham has a very good team. I know all of the players and I saw most of the games that they played last season" Now if that's what he truly believes then I'm already worried.
  • He watched most of West Hams games last season ;hmm so he likes self harming
  • edited May 2018
    Reality is he is right.

    Adrian, Collins (although now released), Ogbonna, Reid, Antonio, Kouyate, Obiang, Noble, Cresswell, Lanzini & Carroll were all good enough to contribute in the side that finished two wins off Champions League football two years ago. That could basically be a full XI in a 3-5-1-1.

    Whilst a lot of that success came down to Payet, they all contributed with fantastic performances. They have all aged a couple of years but, other than Collins (who has officially left anyway), are all still in & around their prime ages.

    Keeping players fit, getting the best out of them & finding a few additions to compliment & address some weaknesses will be his remit & hopefully he can unearth a few gems.
  • IronHerb said:

    What is that shirt he's holding? ;hmm

    PellShirt726_2

    Probably Aston Villas knowing our PR
  • Fantastic appointment, really pleased with this and already feels like a massive move in the right direction, well done to the board and especially Sully

    ;clap
  • I think he will get a sizeable budget, probably not because the Dave’s have now decided to release funds but more to do with the fact we actually have some funds

    I think a couple of things will happen, be will be given about 40-60m to spend depending on some sales, plus you’ll also see an upturn in a few of our players that didn’t do as well as they probably could’ve done last couple of seasons, whether that is the new manager thing and/or his coaching remains to be seen, but it could have us scratching our head as to why they played so poorly at times.
  • He's got one of those 'been on a bender the night before' faces hasn't he...? ;biggrin
  • He watched most of West Hams games last season ;hmm so he likes self harming

    Call me cynical but I wonder how many of those were watched in the 48 hours before meeting Sully? Just so that he could name a few players. :hmmm
  • At least he wasn’t unveiled at some run down stadium, like how Evra was unveiled.
  • edited May 2018
    MIA, I don't mind when he watched them. I'm just glad he has (if true). How else is he going to evaluate a squad that doesn't return for pre-season until about 3 weeks before the transfer window closes (and in some cases even later, if they were involved in the World Cup).
  • Managers watch football 24/7 and what else was going to do in China after doing the 'culture' in the first week ;hmm
  • For me a good benchmark in the first year would be to have a season with no relegation worries. That would represent a realistic improvement. I hope he can deliver that.
  • Just a reminder:

    We have a separate thread for player signing rumours. I've moved some comments over to that discussion ;ok
  • Cuz1 said:

    Reports in the star saying 60 million budget and one of his first signings Charles aranguiz from Bayer Leverkusen 29 tigerish midfield player who can be both defensive and attacking with a good engine

    According to the FIFA website, he's:

    "a crafty, tigerish midfielder of the highest order, notable for his ability to win and distribute the ball, pick out passes and hit the back of the net".

    Sounds perfect.

    On Pellegrini, I think Sully has to be given a great deal of credit. I often to knock him (and heaven knows he makes it easy to do so sometimes), but hats off to him on this appointment. Moyes would have been the safe (and cheaper) choice, but he's gone with Pellegrini and shown a bit of that ambition that he's regularly promoted.
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