There is a bit of a theme coming out of the West Ham publicity machine at present- at the weekend Tomas Soucek was interviewed confirming that ‘he wants to help lead’ and step up to make results better. Today on whufc.com another senior pro is interviewed after the disappointing zero-zero result against Everton.
The senior pro’s are being either ‘wheeled out’ to steady the ship or are all singing from the same ‘unity’ hymn book, depending on your viewpoint.
We could see for ourselves how angry players were at being withdrawn and substituted on Saturday, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Michail Antonio in particular looking deeply unhappy – and letting everyone know it – with their coach’s decision to hook them. Yesterday it was Max Kilman, Today it is Emerson Palmieri who is featured on the club web site with a feature discussing, amongst other things, the positives of a clean sheet but I was drawn to his comments about squad unity.
The article on whufc.com stated: “Emerson urged the West Ham family to stay united and keep the positive vibes as the Hammers seek a more consistent level of form in the Premier League.”
It then quoted Emerson: “We are a family. We know each other very well. We know our strengths and our quality, so we just need to believe more because we have a lot of quality. We just need to believe more and show it on the pitch.”
I’m all for this unity message. Reports of dressing room confrontations, players unhappy with last minute changes of strategy – and obvious disagreement with the head coach’s decision to make changes are examined in microscopic detail when the team is not performing. Senior Pro’s do have a big job to perform in the ‘leadership’ stakes so, having been very critical in the past of the lack of leadership within the team, only fair I highlight positive steps made by those senior squad members to help unite the team and all those engaged in West Ham’s success.
