West Ham United defender Fabian Balbuena is set for a spell on the bench.
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has told Football.London that he made a mistake in starting Fabian Balbuena earlier this season.
The Hammers drew 0-0 away at Aston Villa on Monday night, meaning they’re now four Premier League games unbeaten with just two goals conceded in that time.
West Ham stood firm even when Arthur Masuaku was sent off in the second half, and they will hope to cause Manchester United some problems this weekend too.
Pellegrini has made a change since the 5-0 opening day defeat at the hands of Manchester City, with Balbuena now out of the side.
The Paraguayan ace impressed last season, but struggled in his 90 minutes against City, and his brief substitute appearance against Villa was his first league appearance since that defeat.
Angelo Ogbonna has come into the side alongside Issa Diop in the heart of the West Ham defence, and Pellegrini has now admitted he made a mistake.
Pellegrini noted that Balbuena didn’t have much of a pre-season because he arrived late from Copa America, believing he made an error in putting him back into the team as it was too soon for him.
Pellegrini confirmed the solution is Ogbonna as a starting centre back moving forward, but £40,000-a-week ace Balbuena (Spotrac) is working hard to get back to his best.
“The reason was that Fabian Balbuena couldn’t work too much in the pre-season. He arrived from his national squad late and he played just one [full] game,” said Pellegrini. “That was my mistake to play with him in the first game because I trusted too much in what he can do, but it was too soon for him. Now he is trying to return to his normal performance, working hard.”
“Angelo worked with Diop the complete pre-season and now they are the two centre-backs who must play,” he added.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
