Pressure growing on Pellegrini as Hammers crash at Burnley

Burnley 3-0 Wes Ham United – Reaction

PRESSURE MOUNTED on Manuel Pellegrini as West Ham United crashed by three unanswered goals at Burnley – the East Londoners fourth Premier League defeat in six outings.

Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood both found the net during the opening 45 minutes as Burnley set the foundations to end their own recent winless sequence. And the result was confirmed when beleaguered stand-in goalkeeper, Roberto, fisted into his own net after Ashley Westwood’s corner had troubled the Spaniard.

To cap an otherwise disastrous afternoon, the hammers lost both Mark Noble and Manuel Lanzini to injury. Boss Pellegrini confessed the forthcoming international break couldn’t have come at a better time.  

“I think it’s a good time for a break,” the Chilean told www.whufc.com.. 

“We need to work very hard and review this situation. Maybe last season was different but we had less points than we have [at the same stage] this season, so I hope we are going to return to a normal level of performance as soon as possible and produce a good performance next time.

“Of course, we are in a very different moment [from the opening six games of the season, when we collected eleven points], but you need to perform as a team. At this minute, a lot of players are not performing but we have 15 days and we will try to recover, not only in [terms of] the result but in the trust we are demonstrating in each other.

Pellegrini continued: “It’s about more than confidence; it’s because we are conceding too many goals. If you look at the three goals we conceded against Newcastle, it was because we didn’t concentrate and the result in the Premier League is decided by one or two points that decide the game, so if you concede so many easy goals, it is very hard to win.”

West Ham United return to Premier League action on Saturday, November 23 when Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to the London Stadium (12:30pm).

Burnley: Pope, Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Wood (Brady 90+4’), Barnes (Rodriguez 80’) Subs not used: Hart, Lowton, Pieters, Lennon, Long

West Ham United: Roberto, Fredericks, Diop, Balbuena, Cresswell, Rice, Noble (Yarmolenko 20’), Snodgrass, Fornals (Ajeti 63’), Felipe Anderson (Lanzini 56’), Haller Subs not used: Martin, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Sanchez

Referee: Kevin Friend

Assistants: Matthew Wilkes and Simon Beck

Fourth Official: Stephen Martin