Joining West Ham was an error of judgment

Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that leaving China to take the vacant post at West Ham United back in 2018 was a mistake.

The 70-year-old Chilean, who is currently working in Spain with Real Betis spent just 19 months at West Ham before being fired following a disappointing start to the 2019/20 campaign.

Ands he maintains that leaving a comfortable position with Chinese Super League side Hebei Chinas Fortune was an error on his part.
“Coming back to England with West Ham was maybe not my best decision, but I did it because I wanted to return to the Premier League,” he told the BBC.

“The first season was not bad. But the club was exactly the opposite of Manchester City. They had two or three bad moments and they wanted to change the manager.

“They knew I left a lot of things to go to West Ham. I had a contract in China. I changed a lot of things. The aspiration to fight for better started in the first year I was there. They invested more money.

“For different reasons you can have bad moments. But in that moment, as a manager, you must be sure the owners will continue. They did so many things for me to go to West Ham, but the first thing that went wrong, they sacked me. That is not the style of club that I like.”

Yet even though he fell out with the club’s board, Pellegrini insisted that he retained much affection for West Ham United’s supporters who, he insisted, back him all the way.

“The West Ham fans are unbelievable – 50,000 every game with the passion for the team,” he said. “I have no complaints about the fans because they were always with me.

“Looking back, when I finished in China, if I waited a little bit more I could have had another club. But West Ham were keen and convinced me.”