West Ham finally got their first points of the season, easing to a comfortable-in-the-end 3-1 win over Everton on Sunday.
Relief all round then for Hammers fans and new boss Manuel Pellegrini, who oversaw four-straight defeats in the Premier League before today.
That’s not exactly how you want to start a new season, is it?
Not been going to plan, has it?Reuters
It all worked out though, with new signing Andriy Yarmolenko proving to be the new Arjen Robben with two greats goals, followed up by a third from Marko Arnautovic after Gylfi Sigurdsson briefly gave the Toffees hope with his strike.
But the big news at full-time was the rumours that Hammers striker Lucas Perez refused to warm-up in preparation to come off the bench with 20 minutes left to play in the match.
According to Sky Sports’ in-game commentators, Pellegrini asked the former Arsenal striker to get ready but it seems he refused to do so.
In the end, Pellegrini opted for Carlos Sanchez to replace Mark Noble instead, with the Hammers 3-1 up.
Perez is staying put, it seems
In the end, Sanchez comes on instead
That doesn’t sound good, does it?
So far, Perez has made three fairly unremarkable substitute appearances for the Irons since moving from Arsenal, so surely needs to play as much as he can to impress his new boss.
The 30-year-old – who experienced relegation last season while on-loan with Spanish side Deportivo – cost West Ham £10million in August, and signed a three-year contract.
Lucas Perez reportedly refused to warm up for West Ham during the second half at Goodison ParkSky Sports
Looking back replays, you can clearly see the striker sitting on the bench and looking rather uninterested.
Perez was then spoken to by one of the Hammers’ coaching staff, but appeared to be ignore instructions as the match was went on.
With Arnautovic the Hammers main-man up front and Yarmolenko getting his first start of the Premier League season and netting his first goals, Perez now looks a long way down the pecking order at the London Stadium.
And if he throws another wobbly like this, his time in east London could be brief indeed.
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