West Ham United defender Pablo Zabaleta has hailed manager Manuel Pellegrini’s style and says from working with the Chilean at Manchester City he knew he would not change his ways.
Pellegrini’s side had a tough start to the season as they lost their opening four Premier League games, but have managed three wins since then to climb up to 13th in the Premier League table.
The Hammers beat Burnley 4-2 on Saturday and Zabaleta feels the team’s more experienced players needed to show their mettle after their difficult start to the season.
Zabaleta also insists from working with Pellegrini at Manchester City he knew he would not abandon his principles.
He told West Ham's official site: “Of course, it was important for the experienced players to stay calm during that time.
“I knew Manuel from my three years at Manchester City and I know his personality.
“He is a manager who is not going to change, even if he has a couple of bad results.
“He has his way of thinking and his style of football and we needed to believe in it.
"Now, we’ve got eleven points which is good but obviously we want to consider playing in the same way and winning games, which is also important, because we want to be not too close to the relegation zone.”
West Ham have already faced five of the top six teams from the 2017/18 Premier League table and have a more favourable fixture list in the coming weeks.
Pellegrini’s side have only won once away from home this season, when they beat Everton at Goodison Park and will hope to pick up three points when they face Huddersfield Town on the road come Saturday.
