OPINION
Glen Johnson implied that West Ham were just a mid-table side while ripping them apart for losing 4-0 to Oxford United.
The former Hammers defender shared that West Ham weren’t going to be finishing in the Premier League’s top-four this season, and pointed out that mid-table clubs are more capable of fielding good teams and having a good run in the League Cup.
Given that Johnson made the remarks while slamming West Ham for crashing out of the League Cup, surely he is implying that West Ham are only a mid-table side.
“West Ham aren’t going to be in the top four, they’re not going to be fighting for the Premier League, so this is the perfect opportunity for the mid-table teams to really field a good outfit and give it a good run,” Johnson said as quoted by talkSPORT’s website.
“The bigger teams, of course, have the Champions League, they’re fighting for titles and they might rest players, but ultimately they’ve got a squad they can rotate and still have a strong side.
“West Ham don’t have that.”
The Hammers finished 10th in their 2018/19 campaign after racking up 52 points and clearly Manuel Pellegrini needs to build on that finish in order to keep his job safe at the London Stadium.
Pellegrini seems on course to do that, based on the six games so far, as not only did West Ham beat Manchester United, who finished sixth last season, but they currently sit fifth.
The Hammers’ defensive record seems more promising this season as well, as they’ve only conceded seven goals in six games and that alone implies that West Ham should be able to be more of a mid-table team.
After all, it was the Hammers’ defensive record that stopped them achieving more last season as they shipped a staggering 55 goals.
This number is only made worse when you consider only eight teams conceded more.
However, Johnson clearly believes the Hammers haven’t progressed enough for him to class them as anything more than a midtable side, and this implies the retired defender believes a dip in form is coming.
And that surely much concern Pellegrini.
Given that the likes of Ray Parlour, Harry Redknapp and Darren Gough have tipped the Hammers to finish sixth and their strong start to the season, if Pellegrini doesn’t deliver, he’ll surely be facing the axe.
So with that mind, the Hammers boss should surely be concerned by Johnson’s implication about the Hammers as it sounds like he is not on course to meet expectations.
