James Collins put his body on the line to earn another point and another clean sheet at Swansea City on Sunday
The defending of James Collins was crucial as West Ham United recorded their third consecutive clean sheet on Sunday, but he has admitted his heroics were not part of the game plan.
The shaven-headed centre-back shrugged off the Swansea City boo-boys to produce a typically resolute defensive display at the Liberty Stadium.
With three consecutive clean sheets, Collins says West Ham have got things right at the back at present, but there is still room for improvement.
“We’re defending well – but a bit too desperate at times!” the Wales international said. “Last-ditch tackles and chucking yourself in front of things, it looks good, but we don’t really want to be defending that hard. We’d rather be a bit more solid and a bit more organised.”
One of those last-ditch blocks saw a Ki Sung-Yeung shot rebound off Collins’ hand, and – while it thankfully did not result in a Swansea penalty – it did come at some personal cost, leaving the Hammers defender with a huge lump on the back of his head.
“He’s having a shot and I’ve again just tried to chuck my body in front of it”, said Collins, who was sporting a large lump on the back of his head after the game. “I can’t get out of the way. It certainly hit my hand but I didn’t intentionally handball it. I just tried to block the shot.
“The fans thought I was blagging that it hit my head but your man slid in behind me and I took a knee in the back of my head. That’s why I was down. I wasn’t trying to fake that I hadn’t handballed it. It certainly hit my arm, but I got a whack on the head as well for my trouble.
“I’m stupid enough to jump in front of those things. That’s the way I’ve been brought up. That’s the way I played when I was a lad. I’m there to stop the ball going in the net any way I’ve got to do it.”
The shaven-headed centre-back shrugged off the Swansea City boo-boys to produce a typically resolute defensive display at the Liberty Stadium.
With three consecutive clean sheets, Collins says West Ham have got things right at the back at present, but there is still room for improvement.
“We’re defending well – but a bit too desperate at times!” the Wales international said. “Last-ditch tackles and chucking yourself in front of things, it looks good, but we don’t really want to be defending that hard. We’d rather be a bit more solid and a bit more organised.”
One of those last-ditch blocks saw a Ki Sung-Yeung shot rebound off Collins’ hand, and – while it thankfully did not result in a Swansea penalty – it did come at some personal cost, leaving the Hammers defender with a huge lump on the back of his head.
“He’s having a shot and I’ve again just tried to chuck my body in front of it”, said Collins, who was sporting a large lump on the back of his head after the game. “I can’t get out of the way. It certainly hit my hand but I didn’t intentionally handball it. I just tried to block the shot.
“The fans thought I was blagging that it hit my head but your man slid in behind me and I took a knee in the back of my head. That’s why I was down. I wasn’t trying to fake that I hadn’t handballed it. It certainly hit my arm, but I got a whack on the head as well for my trouble.
“I’m stupid enough to jump in front of those things. That’s the way I’ve been brought up. That’s the way I played when I was a lad. I’m there to stop the ball going in the net any way I’ve got to do it.”
I need to concentrate on my Club form but performing well week-in, week-out, and staying in the West Ham side will obviously be good for me with my Wales opportunities
At the other end of the pitch, Collins said that the team’s failure to score was frustrating but understandable in the context of recent injuries.
“We’re happy defensively but we certainly need to be scoring more goals. I don’t want to make excuses, but our flair players, our goalscorers, we are missing them. It’s one of them things. You get injuries. Before, we were flying. Dimi was flying. Lanzini was flying. Sakho’s out as well, and obviously Big Andy’s gone down last week. So it has derailed us a bit.”
However, Collins felt that the team’s ability to pick up points during the current injury crisis was further evidence of the progress the Club has made this season.
“A point away from home in a game where we haven’t got our most creative and dangerous goal-scorers, overall we’re happy with that,” he said.
“The Club and the Chairmen and the gaffer spent well in the summer. We’ve got a massive squad, full of international players that have come in and performed. So it’s not doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination.”
“If we were losing goals in the last minute, if this was three defeats, not three draws, we’d be talking a bit differently. But we are picking points up, we’re still confident and we’ve got a busy Christmas period with games we feel we can win.”
Collins’ strong performance at the Liberty Stadium will not have gone unnoticed by Wales’ international coaches as they select their squad for the 2016 UEFA European Championship finals, and Collins said his performances for West Ham were key to his chances.
“I need to concentrate on my Club form”, he said, “but performing well week-in, week-out, and staying in the West Ham side will obviously be good for me with my Wales opportunities.”
If the Wales team is picked on bravery, the West Ham man will certainly be the first name on their sheet!
“We’re happy defensively but we certainly need to be scoring more goals. I don’t want to make excuses, but our flair players, our goalscorers, we are missing them. It’s one of them things. You get injuries. Before, we were flying. Dimi was flying. Lanzini was flying. Sakho’s out as well, and obviously Big Andy’s gone down last week. So it has derailed us a bit.”
However, Collins felt that the team’s ability to pick up points during the current injury crisis was further evidence of the progress the Club has made this season.
“A point away from home in a game where we haven’t got our most creative and dangerous goal-scorers, overall we’re happy with that,” he said.
“The Club and the Chairmen and the gaffer spent well in the summer. We’ve got a massive squad, full of international players that have come in and performed. So it’s not doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination.”
“If we were losing goals in the last minute, if this was three defeats, not three draws, we’d be talking a bit differently. But we are picking points up, we’re still confident and we’ve got a busy Christmas period with games we feel we can win.”
Collins’ strong performance at the Liberty Stadium will not have gone unnoticed by Wales’ international coaches as they select their squad for the 2016 UEFA European Championship finals, and Collins said his performances for West Ham were key to his chances.
“I need to concentrate on my Club form”, he said, “but performing well week-in, week-out, and staying in the West Ham side will obviously be good for me with my Wales opportunities.”
If the Wales team is picked on bravery, the West Ham man will certainly be the first name on their sheet!