Manuel Pellegrini's ‘big club mentality’ has helped West Ham fans realise move to London Stadium was needed

West Ham are looking for their fourth win on the bounce in east London.
REUTERS

West Ham fans are now realising the benefits of the London Stadium as West Ham look to win four games in a row at their Stratford home for the first time.

It has been nearly three years since the Hammers played their final game at Upton Park before making the controversial move to the London Stadium.

Trouble blighted their first two seasons in the new home, culminating in the chaos and violence during a 3-0 defeat at home to Burnley last season.

Following the appointment of Manuel Pellegrini and a summer of big spending, fans have started to see the club moving in the right direction this season.

In Pictures | West Ham vs Huddersfield | 16/03/2019

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The Chilean has been working to implement a ‘big club mentality’ in east London, and says the supporters may now have come to the realisation that Upton Park was not sufficient for where West Ham want to go.

“Maybe they all realise this team needs a big stadium. The old stadium I know was a beautiful stadium but it was too small for this team,” Pellegrini said.

“Just 32,000 people is not enough for West Ham - now we have 60,000 people at every game we play. Maybe they understand, also they are creating the atmosphere we see in every game.”

Everton are the next visitors to the London Stadium. A win over Marco Silva’s side at Goodison Park put an end to a four game losing run which began Pellegrini’s tenure at West Ham.

Having dramatically come from behind to beat Huddersfield before the international break, the Hammers are now eyeing up a run of four home wins on the bounce.

“Most of those games we won at home the atmosphere was very good,” Pellegrini said. “Fans were enjoying the game, they were all involved, supporting the team. Not thinking or talking or acting like what happened last season.

“That depends on the performance of the team, that's why it was so important to win those three games in a row, and now it's more important to win the fourth game.”

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