Former West Ham United midfielder Don Hutchinson has criticised Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini for his tactics against Chelsea on Monday night.
The Chilean opted for a 4-4-2 formation against the Blues, but quickly changed tact at half time of the 2-0 defeat, with it clear that his initial plan wasn’t working.
Hutchinson has had his say: “Chelsea battered West Ham in the first half,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account. “Pellegrini leaving [Declan] Rice and Nobes [Mark Noble] exposed against Chelsea’s 3.
“Pellegrini changed the midfield and got numbers in there. West Ham much much better second half. Hazard just unplayable tonight. 100 million plus performance.”
https://twitter.com/donhutch4/status/1115371152178806785
OPINION
This is absolutely spot on from Hutchinson. Pellegrini got it horribly wrong in the first half against Chelsea. It was tactical suicide to only play two central midfielders when everyone and their dog knew that Maurizio Sarri was going to start three men in the middle of the park on Monday. You can’t put two midfielders up against N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. That trio covers the full gamut of qualities needed to be successful in central midfield and so you need to at least go head to head with them in terms of numbers. Pellegrini did that at the break, bringing Robert Snodgrass on and, lo and behold, the Hammers were much better in the second half. The Scotland international made a big impression, hurrying and harrying the Chelsea midfield and helping West Ham gain more of a foothold in the midfield battle. But as Hutchinson says, Rice and Noble were left exposed by Pellegrini’s tactical approach in the first half. Hopefully he has learned from his mistake.
