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Comments
Manuel Pellegrini offered no excuses for his side’s performance in defeat to Oxford United at Wednesday night.
The Hammers crashed out of the Carabao Cup with a 4-0 defeat at the Kassam Stadium, as the U’s ran in four unanswered second half goals to humble Pellegrini’s men.
The manager said his team had more than enough experience to get the job done at the Kassam Stadium, but admitted the performance fell well short of their standards.
“We played against a team who played very well,” he said. “It’s easy to say that we played very badly, but I think Oxford did everything they needed to win this game here at home for them.
“They played with a lot of motivation, with desire and we didn’t play well.
“If you give them time and space all of them are good players. They scored four goals, they had other chances and I think we only created one in the first ten minutes of the game and one in the last minute.
“In the second half we lost all the moments [which decided the match].
“If you want to continue playing in all competitions you have to use your whole squad, and we played with [experienced] players. I repeat, Oxford made it tough and after that [we perhaps showed a] lack of belief that these games are always very difficult for the teams who are in the better league.
“Of course for the fans who came to Wimbledon, and to Oxford today, it’s not the best way to answer them. Football is like this, unfortunately it was a very bad night for some players and we’ll try to recover in our next game in the Premier League
We would arguably be better off playing Anang, Cardoso, Coventry, Holland and Scully in these types of games; at least they play competitive football every week and will have some level of match fitness.
I know they've been training, but Roberto, Balbuena and Ajeti haven't had a minute of competitive football between them since the Newport game, and Snodgrass and Sanchez have only managed a few minutes from the bench in that time. I know they're professionals, but is it really fair to expect them to come into this kind of game cold and perform?
I Recognise the players should still be good enough but these wholesale changes bring an added vulnerability beyond the individuals as they are not used to playing together as the first eleven are, so you can certainly rest one or two but not wholesale change.
9 changes (rightly or wrongly) means Pelle isn’t that fussed. He won’t play any of those players bar two against Bournemouth. The performance of the players (losing is one thing, but 4-0) shows that their attitude was way off for this game, & that’s the most worrying thing.
If there’s a silver lining it is that with their SEVENTEEN shots with 9 on target it should have been more than 4.
What’s the ‘real stuff’? Finishing 8th? That will really be a memory to treasure for the rest of my life. Can’t wait.
https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2019/september/26-september/highlights-oxford-united-4-0-west-ham-united
Very poor from Zab for the second, Masuaku for the third, and Fornals, Zab and Balbuena for the 4th. Awful to see Sanchez so far off the pace in nearly every section of play as well.
Unfortunately it wasnt just him who was awful
Without Noble we are gutless
Another year we are embarrassed in the cup
And no, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter and we should never try. Just that our ‘best’ chance is still an incredibly long shot.
We have even less of a chance in the FA Cup because PL teams play stronger teams, and no chance of winning the PL.
I’m not saying beating Oxford means we’re winning the cup. It would still be a long shot. But it’s a hell of a longer shot now we’re out.
It would force the big guns to either play their strongest squad throughout or their second string throughout. It might perhaps help even things up
Idk, I guess I just didn’t think we were ever going to challenge for the cup. I didn’t watch it either, so that probably helps me not be as fussed as others today.
I feel generally like I care a lot less than I did a few years ago across the board.
I get that it's difficult for a manager. If Pellegrini played Rice, Anderson and Haller last night and they all got injured, there would be people raging that he's cost us three key players in a meaningless game and jeopardised our chance to finish top six. As it is, he's getting battered for not playing a strong enough team. Either way, he can't really win.
Of course, this is all assuming that there's a genuine interest in progressing in these competitions. I know the manager and the players talk a good story, but the evidence so far suggests that neither Pellegrini nor the players seems that keen to put the necessary effort in, physically or mentally. Is there prize money for a League Cup win? Genuine question, because maybe the club would rather we committed more to the PL and getting a higher league position and, therefore, more money. I just don't know anymore.
As I say, with City, Liverpool and Chelsea still in the competition, out chances of actually winning it would have pretty remote even if we had beaten Oxford, but they would still have been a damn sight higher than they are right now.
I don't really care what the odds are its a trophy.