BEFORE the start of the season Marlon Harewood set himself a
personal target of 15 goals. The 25-year-old hit-man has now
surpassed that total, hitting his 16th of the season in
February's 1-0 win over Gillingham.
But not having hit the target for five games the former Nottingham
Forest forward insists that he wants to keep progressing, and that
means scoring more goals as the Hammers look to push back into the
Play-off zone.
"I set myself a target when the season started,"
explained Marlon, "and that was to score 15 goals. At the
moment I've got 16, and I'm pleased to have reached that
personal milestone.
"But, of course, my aim is to score as many goals as I can and
I'm hoping to add a few more to that figure between now and the
end of the season.
"Hopefully, they'll be important goals for the Club as
well, goals that help to get us back into the Premiership.
"A lot of players set themselves targets, but you don't
just want to meet those targets, you want to go passed them and set
new standards for yourself.
"My main job is to score goals for West Ham United and help
the team win. So naturally I'm not happy when I miss chances
and come off the pitch with no goals. But I know I have to work
hard to make sure I get in amongst the chances again and then when
they come along again I'll be even more determined to put them
away.
"Right now though results matter far more than who is scoring.
This is a team game and first of all I've got to put all my
efforts into hopefully being part of a winning team.
"You get disappointed when you miss chances, but as long as
you work on that in training and make sure that the chances are
still coming, then hopefully the goals will come as well."
Marlon has spent most of this season forging a successful
partnership with Teddy Sheringham in attack, which has
yielded 34 goals, while Bobby Zamora and Sergei Rebrov have
provided support. And Marlon believes the various partnerships are
benefiting from familiarity.
"We have all been playing together for a while now," he
explained, "so we're getting more used to how each other
plays. We realise each other's strengths and weaknesses a lot
better now and as we go into these last eight games hopefully the
strike partnerships, whoever it is, will be working well together.
"The important thing to remember is that it's a team game
and whichever position you play, from goalkeeper to forward,
you've got to work for the benefit of the team.
"That's going to be vitally important over the run-in,
when wins are everything and we've really got to pull together
and work hard for the Club."
International fixtures have amounted to a two-week break for the
Hammers, but that time certainly hasn't gone to waste. Alan
Pardew has put his squad to work preparing for the most vital stage
of the season, and Marlon insists the Easter break has helped
re-focus the team.
"I think it's been good for us to have a break," he
admitted because we had quite few games in a short space of
time before Easter and these two weeks have given us time to focus
on what's ahead.
"I think it'll benefit the lads to have a chance to
recharge their batteries, let their bodies recover from knocks and
take a breather from it all.
"We're using the time to make sure we are ready, fit and
fired up to get a result at Wigan and then hopefully push on to a
good run. This is going to be a massive period for us, beginning
with a big game at Wigan on Saturday.
"We need to get a result to get back into the Play-off places.
It's going to be tough but we've not got a bad record
against the top sides and I'm sure they'll be some good
support there for us to.
"The fans were fantastic up at the JJB Stadium last season and
we'll need more of the same on Saturday, because it's a
vital game and one that will be very tough."
Marlon and his team-mates know that they will face intense pressure
going into the run-in, needing victories to make up ground in the
race for the Play-offs. But the big striker insists it's
something the players must deal with.
"We have to accept the pressure," he admitted candidly.
"If you don't get results then you are going to be under
pressure. That is what football is all about.
"It's being said all the time, but it's a results game
and as a player you have to deal with playing under pressure.
It's something you have to be able to do if you want to be
successful.
"It's important to try and block out the external
pressures to a certain extent so that it doesn't affect your
game.
"But you also have to try and use the pressure to your
advantage, because it can be a tremendous motivator. There's
going to be pressure but we'll try and use it as positively as
we can.
"There's no doubt as to what we have to do from now until
the end of the season. That is to dig deep and make that final
push, give it everything we've got and get those results we
need."
Marlon Hits The Target
30th March 2005