Premier League: Sam Allardyce fears West Ham face Manchester United backlash
Thursday 25 September 2014 14:40, UK
Sam Allardyce fears a backlash from Manchester United's big names when he takes his buoyant West Ham to Old Trafford on Saturday.
Allardyce believes the likes of Wayne Rooney, Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria will be hurting deeply from the way the Red Devils let a two-goal lead slip to lose 5-3 at Leicester on Sunday.
When asked if it was a good time to face Louis van Gaal's side, the West Ham boss said: "No. I'm thinking a backlash.
"I think that because of the determination of the Manchester United players and the fact they are playing at Old Trafford.
"I know there's quite a lot of new players playing there but certainly the demand of Manchester United is huge and they'll be really fired up to make sure that they try and perform like they did against QPR and beat us.
"They will be pretty down about that performance they gave at Leicester and they will be hurting and they know the only way they can put that right is to get out onto the field and punish us for it - so we will have to be careful about that.
"A draw would be great for me, anything more than a draw would be outstanding as far as I'm concerned.
"They (the West Ham players) have got to look forward to a tough game at Old Trafford now and test their skills and test their ability at a stadium that can obviously be daunting for some players.
"Hopefully our new players won't be daunted about the prospect of playing at Old Trafford on Saturday."
The Hammers travel to Old Trafford in good heart following a 3-1 home win over Liverpool last weekend.
Many will still see the hosts as favourites going into the game and they enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 victory over QPR on their last home outing.
But they have struggled for consistency despite van Gaal's £150million summer spending spree and their vulnerabilities in defence were highlighted again by Leicester.
Allardyce sympathises with Van Gaal's problems with integrating his new recruits into the set-up at Old Trafford.
West Ham themselves have brought in nine new faces since the end of last season and Allardyce insists getting so many new players to gel is not an easy task for anyone.
"It's not an excuse, it is an actual fact," he said.
"If you've got your players to settle quicker then that is a bonus when you have brought in as many players as I have and as many players as Man United have.
"Irrespective of the talent, you've got to work as a team and to do that you need to understand each other - you need time.
"You can't just walk into a club for two days and say 'I know his strengths and weaknesses, I know his talent'."
Allardyce admitted the loss for up to six weeks of one of his summer signings, Senegal international midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate (groin injury), was a 'blow'.
Captain Kevin Nolan is back training but will not feature at Old Trafford, while Ravel Morrison has been loaned to Championship side Cardiff.
