OPINION
Sam Allardyce knows what is expected from a West Ham player having managed the Hammers previously.
The former Hammers boss was asked about West Ham crashing out of the EFL Cup due to losing 4-0 to League One’s Oxford United, and it’s safe to say he wasn’t impressed.
In fact, Allardyce stated that West Ham’s loss would have had Manuel Pellegrini questioning the character of his squad and suggested that some players effectively just slapped an “exit” label on their foreheads.
The Hammers boss urged Pellegrini to move those type of players on as quickly as possible as it was an extremely worrying sign if a player wasn’t passionate enough to prove they deserved a place in the first-team while being given an opportunity against lower-ranked opposition.
“The disappointing thing is you change your squad in order to give them an opportunity to play football and they let him down massively by going and losing to Oxford United,” said Allardyce on talkSPORT (7:37am, September 30th, Monday).
“That tells you something about the character of the players in your squad which is extremely worrying for me as a manager, because for me, they’ve just put exit on top of their head, quick as you can, move them on, because they’re obviously not passionate enough when they do get an opportunity to play for the club to show they’re worth a place in the team to the manager.”
Allardyce’s verdict on the Hammers’ lost will surely have certain West Ham players sweating buckets over their futures as it’s likely some of them don’t want to leave the London Stadium anytime soon.
These players will know that with the Hammers out of the EFL Cup and the club not entering the FA Cup till January, then they likely won’t have an opportunity to redeem themselves anytime soon.
After all the Hammers are flying high in the Premier League as they sit fourth, so Pellegrini has no reason to change a successful formula when it comes to the club’s league games.
Senior players such as Jack Wilshere, Robert Snodgrass and Carlos Sanchez are likely among the players who should be concerned as all three didn’t really offer much.
Wilshere failed to make any key passes and only had one shot on goal so didn’t overly worry Oxford’s defence, Snodgrass also failed to make any key passes as well as got disposed and registered two bad touches which saw him needlessly lose the ball, and finally Sanchez noticeably only made one tackle with Oxford’s goal montage showing him in a bad light every time. (Source: WhoScored)
Given all three are Premier League proven, they should have done better and you have to question their passion and effort against Oxford as they clearly have the ability to wow against a League One club.
So with that in mind, you do feel some West Ham players will be feeling uneasy after Allardyce is spot-on to question the performance against Oxford.
