Michail Antonio believes there were more than three points won against Southampton!
He reckons that the team demonstrated how completely they backed the manager with a display of guts and determination.
Amid widespread accusation that Manuel Pellegrini has lost the dressing room the man of the match at St Mary’s was keen to make a case for the players and their attitude towards the boss.
Based on what we saw for an hour it would be hard to disagree but the worrying fall away during the last 30 minutes is something they will need to put right if the manager has a chance of remaining at the club.
For now, however, with no match on the horizon until Boxing Day at Palacce, Michail was keen to express the commitment the squad has toward the Chilean who, whilst in no immediate danger of the sack, remains a bookies’ favourite for the chop sometime soon.
Quoted at https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1217686/West-Ham-dressing-room-Michail-Antonio-Manuel-Pellegrini-sack-Premier-League he said: “We showed that we are behind the manager – we showed we’ve got the grit and the fight for him.
“And we showed that he has not lost the dressing room.
“A good manager won’t put pressure on his players. A good manager will let you to play free and with confidence. That is one thing he said to us, basically: ‘Just go out there and play as well as we know we can’.
“I felt we did that – and we’ve done it for him.”
The lack of fitness thing was also evident when Moyes took over and he whipped them back into shape.
I wonder if the boys being leggy has more to do with the confidence thing. You sometimes feel like you’re fighting uphill when things aren’t going your way.
These fellas are professional after all and I’m sure them put the yards in with training.
Hopefully we’ll see a bit of confidence kick in and a return to the form of early in the season.
COYI!!!