Sam Inkersole has claimed that Manuel Pellegrini is not helping West Ham United summer signing Pablo Fornals with his recent selections at the London Stadium.
The Football.London journalist did admit that the Hammers have certainly expected more from the Spaniard since he arrived from Villareal despite the fact that it is understandable it could take time for him to settle in the Premier League.
Inkersole shared that the 23-year-old hasn’t suited a wide role given to him by Pellegrini as he simply doesn’t have the skill to play there and that his confidence has visibly been dented in recent defeats to Crystal Palace and Everton.
“We can still say that we expected an awful lot more so far,” he wrote for Football.London.
“He’s not been helped by his manager’s insistence on playing him as a winger which is a skillset Fornals doesn’t have and his confidence has taken a bit of a hit.”
OPINION
There is definitely no doubting the fact that Fornals has severely disappointed since arriving at the London Stadium. The Spaniard has not been good enough for the Hammers, and one goal against Newport County in the Carabao Cup isn’t what fans will have been expecting when he joined the club. Fornals certainly prefers playing down the middle behind the striker, and playing out wide has isolated him so far, and Pellegrini needs to find a way to get the best form out of him, even if that means a slight reshuffle in the final third. Now would be the perfect opportunity for the Hammers’ boss to do just that as well, with Felipe Anderson struggling for form, and Manuel Lanzini having been put on the bench against Sheffield United. Robert Snodgrass had the game of his life when given the chance in that 1-1 draw, and if Fornals is given the nod in his preferred role against Newcastle on Saturday, West Ham could really start to reap the benefits of the Spaniard moving forward.