OPINION
West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta has cranked up the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini with his latest remarks even if he has done so inadvertently.
The 33-year-old, who currently earns £75,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), candidly spoke of the Hammers’ poor start to the season and threw doubt on his boss’ prestigious CV in the process.
“It’s similar to last season when we didn’t start well and it was tough but we don’t want that. We’ve seen good teams going down before so we must fight,” said Zabaleta, as quoted by Reuters.
“We’ve got the quality in the team but the players need to put in good performances… you trust in the way he (Pellegrini) works because of the teams he’s worked with before.
“For the first time maybe he doesn’t have the same quality in the team like he had before, so maybe it’ll take more time than at other clubs for him to get everything right.
“At Manchester City, there was so much quality, we won games easily. Here it’s not the same. But he’s a great man, a good manager and will try to find the best way to get the results.”
While the right-back clearly backs his manager by saying that he is good at his job and a great man by referring to the fact that he has never managed a team of similar quality as the current Hammers’ side he throws doubt on his ability to turn it around.
Pellegrini’s past success and proven track-record offers hope that the experienced veteran will turn it around at the London Stadium but Zabaleta’s latest remarks dismiss that as being a factor as he paints the Hammers as a whole new situation for the boss.
These comments crank up the pressure on Pellegrini, who is already having people debate his position despite it being the early stages of the season, as it takes away the idea that he has enough experience to turn the club’s fortunes around for the better.
It also undermines his accomplishments in the Premier League with Man City as Zabaleta drools over the amount of quality in the Pellegrini’s title-winning squad that made it easy to win games.
While the veteran defender may not have meant to, he has heaped more pressure on his manager by implying doubt about his ability to succeed at the Hammers and when you consider that Zabaleta is experienced and well-spoken it’s a bizarre mistake to make.
