OPINION
Manuel Pellegrini shared his admiration for West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko following his excellent display but added that he was capable of even better.
The Hammers manager shared that the 6ft 2in tall 28-year-old (Source: Transfermarkt) clearly had quality but that more must be demanded from him as he has the ability to do even better.
“He needed some weeks to get used to the Premier League,” said Pellegrini, as quoted by Football.London.
“He has quality, he demonstrated his quality, he did well, we must demand more from him though because he is able.”
Yarmolenko stole the show against the Toffees on Sunday as he scored twice to help his side secure their first win of the season as they emerged as 3-1 winners from the game partly down to his heroics.
The 28-year-old more than defied the expectations that were in place for him ahead of his first Premier League start as doubts were starting to creep in about whether he would succeed at the club.
Yarmolenko had been restricted to cameo appearances in the league ahead of Sunday’s game with him only being allowed to play 90 minutes against AFC Wimbledon in the EFL Cup.
During that match with the lower-ranked opposition, the tricky winger struggled and looked yards off the pace so it was a concern that he couldn’t show enough quality to overcome a side like Wimbledon.
Yet it seems it was just a bad day at the office for Yarmolenko as against the Toffees he looked a cut above and seemed to be able to glide through on goal with ease.
Given that the 28-year-old was coming off some lacklustre appearances then it was a surprise that he was able to excel in the way that he did against Marco Silva’s side.
Therefore with confidence having been gained from his latest performance, he should be able to do even better and Pellegrini is right to publicly throw down a gauntlet that will stop him resting on his laurels.
Hopefully Yarmolenko is able to step and deliver the goods on a regular basis because if he does, he will soon become a fan favourite at the London Stadium.
