West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini led the club to their biggest win of the century last night, an incredible 8-0 Carabao Cup Third Round thrashing of Mark Yates’ Sky Bet League Two outfit, Macclesfield Town.
After the game, the two-time League Cup champion, with Manchester City, spoke to the press in his post-match press conference in Stratford, West Ham Matters were lucky enough to be there and here’s every word from the experienced Chilean.
On The Way The Game Went:
“I think that maybe the first goal released a little bit of our pressure, but I think that our team played well, from the first minute.
“It’s never easy to find space when you have eight or nine players in front of your box, but I think we had the patience to continue working.
“We did a lot of different movements near their box, and finally, we scored.”
On Whether Or Not It Was The Biggest Win Of His Managerial Career:
“I don’t know, I don’t have statistics from my career about that, but it’s important that it was a good win.
“We must make (find) the difference between a team that plays in the Premier League and a team that plays in League Two.
“But, you don’t always do it, because, a lot of times, you underestimate the rival and think that you are going to win walking, that’s why I’m happy with the players, because I understand that, with the pace that we played tonight, we improved what we were doing in the last games.”
On The Performance Of Full Debutant Grady Diangana:
“I’m pleased for him, because the only thing I demand from young players is when they have that option (opportunity), they take that option, and the best way to do it is to try to play the same way.
“I see them (Diangana and his Development Squad teammates) working on the training ground every day of the week, that’s why he played and he did really very well.
“Not only for the goals, I think every ball that he had was a danger for Macclesfield.”
On The Momentum That Will Be Carried Into Saturday’s Premier League Clash With Manchester United:
“I think, of course, some of the players we play will be different, but for me, as the manager, it’s so important to see the performance of this player in this game.
“So, I always tell them that we need the 23 or 24 players that we have in the squad, because it’s 11 players, it’s impossible to have a complete season.
“In this moment, maybe we are playing some other names, but all of them have waited (for) their opportunity and maybe, a couple of them will repeat also, Saturday.”
On How This Win Will Impact Training Ground Morale:
“Of course, always, this victory and the way we played, helps you a lot.”
More On Diangana And Other Youngsters And Their Involvement In First-Team Training:
“Well, one of the things I asked the club was to work with the U23 players in the same training ground that we work, every day.
“Last month, we started doing that (having the U23s under the same roof), and that is, for me, more easy to see their performance, we are always seeing the games that they play and always talking with Terry (Westley, Academy Director).
“But, I think that those players demonstrated why they are playing tonight, in the first-team.”
On Diangana’s Performance And How It Compares To The Debuts Of Other Starlets He Has Worked With:
“Well, I think that he’s a young player and that he must improve a lot of things if you (he) wants to be a big player, a top player.
“But, he’s working hard, he’s doing well and in the way he continued, in the personality that he had today, tonight, to play, I think that he will improve a lot.
“But, we’ll see in the future, we cannot talk about (Diangana), just for one game.”
On The West Ham Fans Wanting To See Young Players:
“I also like a young player, when they have talent, to play in the first-team, I don’t know what happened with past managers (in terms of giving youth first-team chances), but I think that the fans always want to see good players. They want to win, that’s more important.”
On The Injury Sustained By Carlos Sanchez, Who Hobbled Off In The First Half:
“We’ll see tomorrow, he has had some pain in his knee, but the doctor tomorrow will see with the exam, what happened.”
Next up for Pellegrini and his players will be a return to Premier League action, when Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United visit London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, a game in which they will take plenty of confidence into, now unbeaten in three matches in all competitions.
