There is no love lost between West Ham United and Sheffield United as the two sides clash this weekend.
But Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini seems to have inadvertently stirred the pot.
The Chilean usually gives very little away to the press.
Not so this week, though, as Pellegrini was deemed to have been disparaging in his assessment of Sheffield United’s style of play.
Speaking ahead of the game, Pellegrini told whufc.com: “I think that Sheffield United have a clear style of play. It’s not just a lucky moment for them, they’re a consistent team that plays always in the same way.
Pellegrini’s Blades assessment
“Sheffield United reflect their manager (Chris Wilder’s) mentality. It’s totally English football, with strong players who work a lot during 95 minutes, with a lot of balls inside the box aiming to win the first or the second ball. They know perfectly how to do it. They play a typical style – direct football – and we must be prepared for that.”
The comments jarred with talkSPORT duo Adrian Durham and Darren Gough.
The pair slammed Pellegrini labelling his remarks ‘disrespectful’ and even questioned whether he is the right man for West Ham.
“Has Pellegrini ever watched Sheffield United play?” Gough asked on talkSPORT Drive.
“It doesn’t look like Pellegrini has ever watched them play judging by his press conference, the West Ham manager,” Durham said.
“Wow, I mean, just wow… you and I know that they don’t play that way at all.”
‘Clueless and disrespectful’
“For a start they haven’t got a big target man who they hit all the time, we’ve talked about their centre-halves who split (and over-lap the fullbacks) and the midfielders come and cover, that is not English at all, what other English club does that?” Gough said.
“Well I tell you what’s a worry here, he’s got it completely wrong Pellegrini, totally and utterly wrong about Sheffield United. Does that mean less than 48 hours before the game he is clueless about the opposition? This should be angering Sheffield United fans, I get that, but it should be worrying West Ham fans shouldn’t it?”
“It’s disrespectful from Pellegrini I think.”
Make your mind up Durham
Both Durham and Gough then went on to claim Pellegrini is not the man to lead West Ham into the top six.
That is despite shock jock Durham backing the Hammers to mount a challenge for the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE spots just a few months ago (talkSPORT).
It is true Pellegrini looks to have misjudged this one slightly. But much of what Pellegrini said about the Blades can also be taken as a compliment.
And with the West Ham vs Sheffield United one of talkSPORT’s live games at the weekend it is perhaps no surprise the station is trying to spice things up a bit before the London Stadium clash.
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