(Reuters) – West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini said his players have to shoulder the responsibility for their poor Premier League form but he will do everything possible to rebuild their confidence ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Southampton.
The London club have dropped to 16th with 16 points after losing seven of their last nine games and are in danger of slipping into the relegation zone.
“I always think as a manager that the results of the team depend on the individual performance of a player,” Pellegrini told a news conference.
“We must try to work with players and give them confidence. After that you can work on tactical, physical and technical work, but the performance of players decide the games.”
Monday’s 3-1 home defeat by Arsenal — where West Ham let in three goals in nine minutes — has turned up the heat on Pellegrini ahead of the game against 18th-placed Southampton.
“All of us know we need the results… the points we have aren’t enough for this team,” the Chilean added.
“We need to return to being a consistent and solid team in the way we did against Chelsea (in a 1-0 win) and for 60-65 minutes against Arsenal.”
