Manuel Pellegrini suggests Roberto form aided him getting the West Ham sack

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Manuel Pellegrini has been speaking about his time in charge of West Ham United.

The 66-year-old was relieved of his duties in December after a terrible run of results, with David Moyes being brought back by the board.

The season started brightly under the former Manchester City boss, but the wheels quickly fell off with a shocking 4-0 defeat to Oxford United in the Carabao Cup in September.

Arguably one of the biggest factors in the club’s poor form this season was the loss of Lukasz Fabianski to injury.

The star, who was voted as the club’s Player of the Year for 2018/19, missed a few months and was replaced by Roberto, who made a string of errors leading to goals.

Despite continually backing him whilst in charge, Pellegrini admitted (La Tercera): “Unfortunately, we had a major injury, from the goalkeeper, of four months. And the performance of the reserve wasn’t as expected.

“He had responsibility in several goals. The team was losing confidence, the results were denied and the owners decided to change.”

TBR’s view – Blind loyalty

It can be argued Pellegrini stuck by Roberto for far too long.

The 33-year-old, who is now spending the remainder of the season on loan at Deportivo Alaves, shipped 21 goals in his 10 appearances for the Irons, but he should not have been able to make as many appearances.

It became apparent early on that the physicality of Premier League football wasn’t going to suit Roberto, but Pellegrini persisted, pointing to the ‘career’ he had behind him (talkSPORT).