London Football News

West Ham boss denies reports he is unhappy

© Nigel French/PA Wire

Manuel Pellegrini has insisted he is not unhappy about West Ham starting line-ups being leaked.

The West Ham boss remains adamant he is unfazed by Twitter account @ExWHUemployee, which it has been reported correctly predicted more than 60 Hammers starting teams.

The social media account has more than 50,000 followers, who are often told the starting line-up well in advance of it being officially published on the club’s channels.

But Hammers manager Pellegrini believes it makes little difference if the public know his starting team ahead of time.

Asked if he is angry about the repeated leaks, Pellegrini replied: “No. First of all the news is not true, because I’m not angry about that.

“Normally in every team that I have managed, the day before the game, I work with set-pieces, so all the players know the day before who will play and who will not play.

“So, many players can talk with other players. I’m not keeping the starting XI until three or four hours before the game.

“There are a lot of ways or reasons why some people can know the team before it is released.”

Pellegrini believes West Ham’s opponents can gain little or no advantage from knowing his starting XI early, especially in the Premier League.

Asked if he knows the source of the leaks, Pellegrini said: “I don’t have any idea, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about trying to win the points.”

And when quizzed on whether opponents stand to gain from the early information, Pellegrini continued: “I don’t think that is the most important thing.

“Maybe if you’re going to play against Chelsea, Watford, against Liverpool, you are sure that it will be the starting XI from the last game and they’ll play exactly the same way.

“So I don’t hide too much about the starting XI.”

West Ham will travel to Everton on Sunday still bidding for their first points of the Premier League campaign, following four straight defeats.

Jack Wilshere has been ruled out of action following an ankle issue picked up in training, while Javier Hernandez is ill.

“Jack felt a sprain in his ankle two days ago,” said Pellegrini, of former Arsenal midfielder Wilshere.

“We’ll see how he is in the next few days. He doesn’t have a chance to play this weekend and on Tuesday we will see how he is after he has a medical

review.”




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