In the FA Cup at the weekend, West Ham boss Sam Allardyce played his U21 side against Nottingham Forest so that his players would be well rested for Wednesday’s League Cup semi-final tie with Manchester City.
That moved backfired when Forest put five past West Ham, so there was pressure on the West Ham players to respond and play well against City. Well that didn’t work as Man City ripped Big Sam’s side to shreds, beating them 6-0 and if was not for Hammers goalkeeper Adrian it could have been 10.
The usually animated Allardyce sat despondent on the West Ham bench, seemingly unable to believe what was happening on the pitch before him, and at a loss at how to change things.
Allardyce has the dead man walking look and surely it is just a matter of days before the West Ham board fire him? With upcoming games against Cardiff (A), Newcastle (H) and Chelsea (A), West Ham are facing the real possibility of getting cut adrift at the bottom of the Premier League. With an impending move in 2016 to the London Olympic Stadium, West Ham cannot afford for that to happen when they are playing in the Championship.
Not sure worries for Manuel Pellegrini’s City side who have now scored 59 goals in their 15 home games to date this season and City fans can already starting making their plans for Wembley Way.
A smartly taken brace from Alvaro Negredo and a goal from the marauding Yaya Toure put City 3-0 up, with Negredo completing his hat-trick in the second half before Edin Dzeko sealed victory with two goals of his own.
City are just magnificent at home this season and are still on track for an unprecedented quadruple. They are basically in the League Cup Final, and favorites to overtake Arsenal and win the league. They have a favorable 4th round match in the FA Cup and then there is that game with Barcelona next month in the Champions League.
But Pellegrini will not be fazed by playing in the Camp Nou after managing Malaga and Real Madrid there. While the players will be optimistic that they can get a result in Spain after beating Bayern Munich in Munich in the group stages.
But Barcelona will have to be a little nervous about coming to the Etihad Stadium, a ground where City have out six past Spurs and Arsenal and four past Man United.
Could City go one better than their rivals this season and win the quadruple?
