West Ham legend Sir Geoff Hurst shared that he thought the Hammers had improved under Manuel Pellegrini following the poor start to the season.
The 76-year-old, who played 411 times for the Hammers, revealed that while he was hopeful under the current Hammers boss’ reign he believed the club were still a way off being a top six side in the Premier League.
“I’m very hopeful, he is a very successful manager, what’s encouraging at the club is when you get a high profile manager like Manuel Pellegrini, there’s obviously a more sensible budget that’s been spent to assist him to do that,” said Hurst in an interview with Tribal Football on their YouTube channel.
“No manager of high profile is going to go to a club without expecting a reasonable amount of money to be spent which we have.
“I think £100million is what they talked about which is probably the fifth or forth highest spend in the Premier League.
“It’s sometimes difficult with the amount of players you buy to integrate them into a setup, that’s taking its time.
“It’s a poor start but we have improved, if we can get everybody fit. It depends what you term success. Success for West Ham over the next few years wouldn’t be top six still.
“Although we’ve got a great stadium, you know 60,000 people, we are spending money, we’ve still got a bit a to go over a period of time to even be talked about in the same breath as the top six.”
Hurst was then directly asked whether the London Stadium was impacting results and dismissed the idea.
“No I don’t think, I think people talk about the stadium. I think it’s just to improve the quality of the team,” the Hammers legend continued.
“I think there are some issues in moving from the old club and the how the fans were handled and possibly treated as customers, think there’s some issues there.
“I think overall the stadium is okay we are getting nearly 60,000 people.”
OPINION
Hurst gave very detailed answers in his interview with Tribal Football on every question thrown his way but it was clear that he was feeling positive about the Hammers. While the club legend claims that his former side aren’t in the same breath as the top-six as it stands, it’s understandable why he says that. The Hammers clearly have some top-quality players in their squad but getting the top six is a tough ask. Pellegrini is still building his team and has done well to make as much progress as he has already. The club’s defence was a mess last season but after some smart summer signings, and the wise decision to rely on Pablo Zabaleta at right-back, goals aren’t being shipped for fun. The Hammers can now build on that and start to look up the table rather than behind them. Though perhaps Hurst is right to suggest Hammers fans should look at the top-six yet and just look at making progress by not being in the relegation battle.
