West Ham United may be in the market for a new left back.
West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini has told Football.London that there were many problems in his side on Saturday – and didn’t exactly seem impressed with either of his left backs.
The Hammers faced a daunting task on Saturday afternoon as they took on Pep Guardiola’s swashbuckling Manchester City side, which is a difficult encounter for any Premier League side.
West Ham were 3-0 down by half time after a tough 45 minutes, with David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane all finding the net, before Sane made it 4-0 late on.
West Ham did show some fight in the second half, but couldn’t break City down, and it’s fair to say that Arthur Masuaku didn’t have the best of games.
The DR Congo international struggled with Sterling out wide, and was subsequently substituted at half time in favour of Aaron Cresswell – who didn’t exactly fare much better.
After the game, Pellegrini suggested that there were problems throughout his side, but seemed undecided on his best left back, even if he claimed Masuaku wasn’t replaced for being culpable for a goal.
“I analyse the game tomorrow, maybe when you as a manager decide your team it is because for different reasons you think that is the best starting XI, every player can have a bad day.”
“I think we had too many problems in that side, I think that Cresswell…they are both playing the same amount of games. That was not a change because he was responsible for the goals because we also lose the marking in the middle of the goal. I think we had too many problems in that side,” he added.
Pellegrini’s comments add weight to the idea that West Ham may sign a left back in January, with one new rumour – a deal for Olympiakos star Leonardo Koutris – making more and more sense.
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