Shane Clancy
West Ham United manager, Manuel Pellegrini, was in an upbeat mood as he spoke to the media today ahead of his team’s fixture at home to Manchester United in the early kick-off on Saturday.
The Hammers started the season in very poor form but have now gone three games unbeaten and kept two clean sheets in a row after conceding in all their previous games.
West Ham drew 0-0 at home to Chelsea last weekend before easily dispatching of poor Macclesfield, 8-0, in the League Cup on Wednesday night. Pellegrini was quick to highlight this recent defensive improvement as he looked to build confidence before Jose Mourinho and his men arrive in London tomorrow.
“I’m very happy, not only for Fabian and Diop but also Angelo Ogbonna’s performance on Wednesday.’’ He told his pre-match press conference.
“I think we are defensively improving. I knew Diop well. He was the captain of Toulouse. I told him he needed to know a bit more about the Premier League, but I was absolutely sure he would be a success here. It’s the same with Balbuena.”
West Ham have only one win in six in the Premier League – a convincing 3-1 victory away to Everton – and will need continued defensive stability to climb the league table and avoid becoming embroiled in a dreaded relegation dogfight, this season.