OPINION
As football fans, we all like to think that we could do a decent job of managing our respective clubs. We are all armchair pundits and pub tacticians, but when all is said and done, the vast majority of us realise that the men who are paid the big bucks to prowl the dugout are probably better suited to the role than we ever would be. Sometimes, however, there are decisions that are so baffling and illogical that it seems to call the validity of these figures into question. Take Manuel Pellegrini’s insistence on starting Angelo Ogbonna over Fabian Balbuena at the heart of West Ham’s defence. The rationale seems to be that the Italian is left footed and brings balance to the side, but increasingly that argument seems mooted by his dire performances. In the 3-1 win against Watford, it was he who switched off and failed to track Andre Gray for the equaliser. On paper, the 31-year-old looks like a decent player. His one appearance in the league this season prior to Saturday yielded four tackles and seven clearances, as per Whoscored. But his tendency for the calamitous surely makes him too much of a risk to be playing week in week out, and when you have a player of Balbuena’s talent on the bench, that choice become all the more confusing. Hopefully Pellegrini sees sense sooner rather than later.
Forever West Ham have gathered some of the best tweets below:
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