Manuel Pellegrini stressed the importance of fitness and preparation over performance and results after his West Ham United finished the Premier League Asia Trophy in fourth place.
The Hammers suffered defeats in both of their matches in China, losing 4-1 to Manchester City in Nanjing on Wednesday before being edged out 1-0 by Newcastle United in Shanghai on Saturday.
Speaking to the media at Hongkou Football Stadium after seeing Yoshinori Muto’s strike settle a game low on goalscoring opportunities, Pellegrini was philosophical in his assessment of the week as a whole.
“I think that we are working the preseason in a way that we planned for at the start,” he said. “We had ten days in Switzerland where we worked mostly in a physical way and in China we have played two friendly games to see what level we are at.
“We used these two games also to give minutes to the whole squad for I think that, for the moment, we are working well and we need to finish the next few weeks trying to be mentally and physically ready.”
I think that we are working the preseason in a way that we planned for at the start
Manuel Pellegrini
West Ham managed just one goal, a Mark Noble penalty against Manchester City, and failed to muster a shot on target against Newcastle.
With those statistics in mind and having given Michail Antonio and Felipe Anderson minutes in the centre forward role in Shanghai, Pellegrini was asked if he is considering bringing in another striker to provide competition for Chicharito and new boy Sebastien Haller.
“In this moment, we have Sebastien Haller who just arrived at the Club and we also have Javier Hernandez and Antonio, who are two players who can also play as a striker,” he observed.
“Until the last day or the last hour of the transfer market, you can make changes but I think, in this moment, with those players we have good options.”