‘Manuel Pellegrini has no idea what his best side is!’ – Dean Ashton blasts ‘same old’ West Ham after Arsenal defeat
The Hammers have started the season with three successive defeats and currently sit bottom of the Premier League table
Dean Ashton believes Manuel Pellegrini is still struggling to decide what his best side is as West Ham made it three defeats from three at the start of the Premier League season.
The Hammers were defeated by Arsenal on Saturday afternoon, losing 3-1 despite Marco Arnautovic handing Pellegrini's side a deserved 1-0 lead.
That result followed losses to both Liverpool and Bournemouth, on the opening matchday and last week respectively, and leaves West Ham bottom of the table with 0 points and the second worst goal difference in the division.
After spending over £100million during the summer transfer window, Pellegrini was expected to pick up results fast, but he has struggled to mould a team mixed with players he inherited and new signings.
In fact, Ashton believes Pellegrini is still struggling to decide which 11 players make up his strongest side, having rotated his starting line-up in each of West Ham's three matches.
“It looks like he’s got no idea what his best side is, or what the best way to play is," Ashton, the former West Ham striker, told the Weekend Sports Breakfast.
“Yes, they looked exciting at times against Arsenal, which is great, but we still look really, really weak at the back.
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“We still look vulnerable when we lost the ball.
"This is the biggest worry; they did have a go, but it’s still the same old performance of being flaky and losing the game in the end.”
Despite failing to pick up a single point from their first three matches, West Ham are not particularly underperforming to their expected level.
While failing to claim at least a single point at home to Bournemourth is disturbing, losing at both Liverpool and Arsenal is par for the course for the east Londoners.
Ashton believes some of the negative criticism aimed at Pellegrini is coming from over the top expectations, with some people rating West Ham as a better side than they are in reality.
He added: “I was asked at the start of the season what the expectation should be, and it should be no more than getting in the top half as we haven’t been good enough.
“I think West Ham are caught in that position where they are expecting more than they should, perhaps thinking, ‘we’re better than we should be’.
“What actually needs to be done is to be really solid, be a proper team and know exactly how you play. You need to be hard to beat, but also do have a go when away from home.
“I haven’t seen any of that yet, and that’s the worry.
“Is Pellegrini the type of manager who will give you that solid base, which you need?”