Many of these West Ham United fans thought Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI was a joke, although they may have been proved wrong.
The lineup consisted of five changes, including the goalscorer Robert Snodgrass and the previously injured left-back Aaron Cresswell.
One of the biggest surprises has the addition of the Paraguayan centre-back Fabian Balbuena, which meant Angelo Ogbonna would miss out. The 38-year-old Italian has played eight out of 10 Premier League games for the Hammers this season, leaving many fans confused as to why he was left out.
changes for today’s match pic.twitter.com/1AcLKjWa79
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 26, 2019
Harsh on Ogbonna?
— Thomas?? (@ThomasWHUFC) October 26, 2019
good joke show us real team news
— adam (@addzy100) October 26, 2019
Bit harsh on ogbonna was one of our most consistent players
— Elliott (Spook mode) (@ElliottWHU_) October 26, 2019
alright lads show us the real lineup
— (5-1) (@lucxwh) October 26, 2019
The whole West Ham backline made only four tackles with Pablo Zabaleta and Balbuena both making two [Whoscored].
what’s ogbonna and fredericks done
— Josh and 874 others (@JoshSeal8) October 26, 2019
If this don’t work out Pellegrini will get slaughtered and rightly so…. fingers crossed this bold selection is brave and not stupid !
— Dan Swaby (@Swabybaby01) October 26, 2019
Is this a joke!!!!
— Christopher Thorpe (@thorpe9214) October 26, 2019
What Do We Think?
Snodgrass obviously took this opportunity and got the opening goal of the game, so you can’t argue with the Scotsman’s addition to the squad.
Balbuena and Cresswell had average games, so with Pellegrini swapping players out on a nearly weekly basis, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they miss next weeks game against Newcastle. The Paraguayan played best out of the two, successfully winning eight aerial duels which was the most from anyone across the whole game [Whoscored].
Zabaleta also had an average game but performed well defensively with two tackles. The Argentine was very active with 83 touches which were the second-highest in the game [Whoscored].
Another smart move from Pellegrini has the addition of Andriy Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian managed to get an assist with a wonderful pass to Snodgrass, so perhaps, it would be wise to expect to see him starting next week.