Following a bright, promising pre-season at West Ham United, the Premier League has started in disastrous fashion, with two losses from two games.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men now travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, who have also lost two from two, albeit against champions Manchester City on the opening day, as well as Chelsea last week.
The Chilean boss has spoken to the press, confirming he is uncertain of his team selection ahead of this London Derby.
Missing his captain
Ahead of this game, the boss will be missing his captain, Mark Noble, but is positive ahead of the game due to having a lot of first-team players available.
“In this week, we just have the three players who will continue to be injured for a couple of months more and Mark Noble has a problem with his back that means he couldn’t work,” said Pellegrini.
Under 23’s players are also fit and available for this game, only bolstering Pellegrini’s options and putting more pressure on first-team regulars to perform better than in previous weeks.
Options at the back
In recent weeks, defending has seemed a problem for the Hammers, with the side from East London shipping six goals in just two Premier League games thus far - raising question marks of team selection at the back, which Pellegrini answered: “We will see, not only with Diop but we also have Cresswell that missed part of the pre-season with injury and just played 45 minutes of the last game in pre-season.”
The Chilean then went on further to discuss his options in other positions, and possible changes that he could make.
“We have Lucas Perez and Carlos Sanchez who have only been here for two weeks, so we have a good squad and it’s impossible, when all of them are fit, to play them all,” the Hammers boss added.
Pellegrini then wrapped up his talk about team news by admitting that there will be changes from last weekends second-half disaster against Bournemouth, although is staying tight-lipped about potential starters, saying only: “Maybe against Arsenal I can make some changes because I think the players played bad.
"There are a lot of reasons why, in this minute, we are trying to find the best starting XI to win the game.”
Despite not seeming certain himself of potential starters for this fixture, Pellegrini made it very clear that there are places in the team to fight for, and every player could get a breakthrough if they’re able to impress.