West Ham United veteran Pablo Zabaleta is at odds with manager Manuel Pellegrini over the team’s aims for the season.
The Hammers turned in what the Chilean described as their ‘worst performance of the year’ in a meek 2-0 surrender at home to Everton last time out (Sky Sports).
That was some statement given some of the dross West Ham have served up at times this season.
It was always going to be a transitional campaign.
The usual glut of injuries have not helped. But a questionable attitude from Pellegrini’s side and rank inconsistency has been West Ham’s biggest downfall.
Season that promised much to end in damp squib?
An embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of League Two-bound AFC Wimbledon derailed what was becoming a promising campaign.
Pellegrini keeps reiterating his belief West Ham can finish seventh. That could be rewarded with a spot in Europe depending who wins the FA Cup.
Even after the Everton defeat Pellegrini told West Ham’s official website it was still a possibility.
That was followed by victories for both Wolves and Watford on Tuesday night.
Pellegrini keeping the faith
And it means the East Londoners must overturn a six-point deficit – given their inferior goal difference – with just six games remaining.
Four of those are against teams above them in the table. Indeed three of them are against teams in the top six.
But the Hammers boss is struggling to convince his players, as proved by Zabaleta’s contradictory comments on the club’s official website.
The experienced Argentine appears to be completely at odds with his manager. Zabaleta has all but ruled out their chances of finishing in the ‘best of the rest’ position.
“Personally, I am not happy at all because if you look at the season so far, we have not been consistent enough,” Zabaleta told whufc.com.
“We have lost so many opportunities to be in that seventh position and it shows a little bit the weak mentality that we have probably got and something we need to improve looking forward if we want to do a good season. Our consistency needs to improve.
“If you want to play European football, you need to finish sixth or seventh in the Premier League and you need to do a really, really good season.
‘Not good enough’
“At the moment, we are 11th and I want to be in a better position, but the reality is that the three or four games we lost during the season really made a difference.
“Saturday was an awful performance, really. It was one of the worst of the season and I think there have been a few – Cardiff away, Wolverhampton at home at the beginning of the season, Wolverhampton away… there have been three or four really poor performances.
“I mean, you can win or lose games but the way we lost on Saturday was bad. We knew it was an important game to give us seventh position. So it was a big game for both teams. And Everton were all over the place and much better than us, honestly.”
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