An off the wall explanation for the return of Fabian Balbuena has been offered by a ClaretandHugh follower. Dusty Miller may be charged with producing a conspiracy theory but his diagnosis of the thoroughly awful decision to drop Angelo Ogbonna certainly bears examination.
By Dusty Miller
I believe the reason the manager decided to play The General was because – unluckily for the Hammers – both he and Roberto speak Spanish!
Maybe Pellegrini thought they could have a understanding at the back. Well, if so, that theory was blown to bits against Burnley.
Neither had a clue what the other was doing or what they were supposed to do. Communication my backside.
The best defence I’ve witnessed from our team came with David Moyes’s played three at the back in Reid Collins and Cresswell in the middle with Masuaku left wing back and Antonio right wingback.
We beat a few good teams with that system and we had a dodgy keeper (Joe Hart) ! But Pellegrini sadly does not seem to sway from HIS ONE game plan and unfortunately the Hammers have been sussed. Shame.
It’s a bit of a bugbear of mine about Foreign players speaking English and the negative effect it can have on the Team. Particularly for the Goalkeeper where communication with his Defenders is vital! 🤔
This explanation of why Balbuena and Zabaletta were brought in for the Sheffield United game makes more sense than any other I’ve heard – but it was a massive mistake and will probably go down as the second most important thing this year after Fabianski’s injury! 🤨
Antonio was pants as a back. He has to be played where he is most effective and that is right wing where he has the space to do damage— not even in the middle up front where there is no space. Occasionally getting more central when the attack comes from the left is where he probably scored most of his goals.
We’ve changed a few of our players since that formation, a couple of years back. Just pointing out the system of 3 at the back worked? Frederick’s could be wing back now and Pellegrini has 4 centre backs for the middle positions with Reid coming back. Antonio could play one of the attacking midfield or forward positions now?? Just saying Pellegrini could or should change our formation now and then instead of becoming readable to other managers.