This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
West Ham have struggled in front of goal this season but Manuel Pellegrini is aware of a solution which could ease their worries in that area.
What did he say?
Sebastien Haller, who signed for an initial £40m in the summer, has had a reasonably good start to his West Ham career with four goals to his name, and although he has impressed fans so far he still has to do a bit more to convince his manager.
The likes of Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini were criticised for their performances against Everton, and the lack of chances they created for the striker, but instead the Chilean points to a deficiency in an area of Haller’s game.
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In his Sheffield United pre-match press conference, as reported by Football.London, he said:
“He has not done bad but he can do better also. He has started better, now he must make more movements inside the box because we need to score more goals.”
His comments indicate that Haller is responsible for not providing enough bite to West Ham’s attack in recent matches, and considering some of his goals have come as a result of his poaching ability in the box – including against Watford and Crystal Palace – the Hammers boss might have a point.
Setting high standards
Even upon his arrival at the club Pellegrini spoke of a “big club mentality”, and it is a positive that he is looking to reach that goal by setting high expectations of his players.
Haller falls under that bracket, and if he can become more lively in the way his manager wishes, then he should be able to become even more important for his new side.
However, it is quite strange that Pellegrini hasn’t applied the same stringent standards to other players in the squad, most notably his more creative players who are failing to provide the service that the German requires.
Pablo Fornals was brought in to help in that regard, but he has so far struggled to adjust to his new surroundings and is yet to register an assist in the Premier League.
It is a similar story for the more experienced Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson, who have recorded a combined total of six assists this term despite making eight and ten appearances respectively, which shows they are underperforming.
As a result, Haller’s improvement does depend somewhat on how his teammates fare, but making himself more of a nuisance will do no harm, and could lead West Ham to improve on their poor return of 11 goals in nine league games.
