MANUEL PELLEGRINI WILL be in charge of West Ham’s crunch relegation clash against Southampton on Saturday.
But the club look set to axe the underfire Chilean if the Irons suffer another defeat at St Mary’s.
West Ham could axe Ex-Man City chief Manuel Pellegrini if they lose at Southampton on SaturdayCredit: PA:Empics Sport
West Ham have lost seven of their last nine Premier League games after Arsenal beat them 3-1 to on Monday.
And they now sit 16th, just one point and two places above Southampton, having only one once in their past 11 matches.
And another defeat could spell the end for Pellegrini, with Hammers chiefs keen to give a new boss time to bed in, with them not playing again until 12 days after.
Their game at Liverpool on 12 December has been postponed due to the Reds taking part in the Club World Cup in Qatar.
So their next match after Southampton is not until they travel to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
‘MY WORST PHASE’
And with pressure on Pellegrini ramping up after every defeat, the club could feel the extended break during the busy festive period would be the best time to make a change.
Pellegrini was roundly booed by home fans for deciding to replace Felipe Anderson with Sebastian Haller moments after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Arsenal 3-1 up at the London Stadium.
But twice-capped Brazil striker Anderson is blaming himself – after failing to score this term despite starting 15 of the Hammers’ 15 Prem games.
The ex-Lazio star, 26, hit nine goals in his first campaign of English football last season.
And he said: “This is the worst phase I have been going through with the team.
“When I arrived it was hard but we started winning and I started to show my potential by helping the team with goals, assists and dribbles, and right now things are not working out as we want.
“Things have to improve and I have to improve to be able to help the team.
“As I always say, this is a collective game. If I don’t score and the team wins, I’m happy, but if I don’t score and the team loses and I couldn’t help the team as I want to, it’s difficult.
“But we need to keep on working hard and think positively.”
Yet Anderson insisted West Ham expected better from their London derby against a side also low on confidence.
He said: “Monday’s match was a very negative result and one that we didn’t expect because we were at home and because we had played well in the previous two matches.
“But we know that we need to keep working hard to get out of this situation.”
Freddie Ljungberg, speaks about his side’s performance against West Ham after Arsenal cruise to their first win under the Swede
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
