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Keown: Pellegrini is under huge pressure

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Image for Keown: Pellegrini is under huge pressure

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes that West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini is under huge pressure at the London Stadium.

The Hammers take on their capital city rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in what will be new Spurs boss Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge. Keown feels Pellegrini could follow Mauricio Pochettino out of a job soon, though.

“He is under huge pressure, because no one’s going to be sitting comfortably now when you see Pochettino’s been sacked,” he said on talkSPORT [22/11; 11:13]. “West Ham have got three enormous games coming up, and they really need to start winning now.

“There’s no consistency in their performances. [If Spurs win] I’m sure the board will start to look at whether or not they need to make a change.”

OPINION

There’s no doubt that Pellegrini is really under the cosh at the moment, seven games without a win will do that to you. Simply put, the Chilean has fallen way short of expectations in east London this season. The recruitment over the summer wasn’t good enough, and we are very much seeing that at the moment. Roberto has been a disaster filling in for first choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, while playmaker Pablo Fornals has been a big disappointment. Plus, he failed to address the full back areas despite having big problems there last season, particularly at left back, while too many attackers were allowed to walk out the London Stadium exit door with not enough in to replace them. Now results have dipped dramatically, but he’s getting no favours on Saturday. Mourinho has never lost his first game with a Premier League club through two spells with Chelsea and one with Manchester United. Will Pellegrini be able to halt the skid and stay in a job? That very much remains to be seen.

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