OPINION
With West Ham sitting bottom of the Premier League table heading into the first international break of the summer window, there is pressure building on manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The Chilean has only managed one win during his first season with the Irons – a victory over Wimbledon in the League Cup – while their league matches have all been defeats.
As such, there was much surprise to see reports, including from the Telegraph, stating that the former Manchester City boss had chosen to head home to Chile for part of the mid-season gap in fixtures, despite seeing just four of his senior squad missing due to international duty.
However, reliable West Ham fan news website Claret and Hugh state that having been expected to return to east London over the weekend, Pellegrini surprised the squad by travelling back towards the end of last week – working with the first team side as they look to get some points on the board with their clash against Everton.
After the struggles the Irons have suffered, Pellegrini’s absence from training will not have gone down too well in either the stands or the boardroom at the London Stadium, and his swift return must mean that someone out of the top brass had a word, either with the manager himself or someone in the senior setup.
Whatever has happened behind the scenes, the Hammers need their full focus on defeating the Toffees this coming weekend, and having Pellegrini back will only help their cause – whether he wants to be back is another matter entirely.