Emerson says West Ham United’s 4-1 home Premier League win over Ipswich Town is ‘just the beginning’ of how the Hammers can play under Head Coach Julen Lopetegui.
The Irons secured a first victory at London Stadium under the Spaniard on Saturday, ploughing the Tractor Boys’ defence repeatedly, with Michail Antonio scoring within a minute, Mohammed Kudus heading in from close-range before half-time, and Jarrod Bowen firing in before turning provider for Lucas Paquetá after the break.
Emerson himself was involved in Kudus’s goal, bursting past two defenders before delivering a superb left-wing cross that Antonio powered against the crossbar, before Kudus followed in to leap highest and nod in the rebound.
For the No33, picking up three points in east London was most welcome and thoroughly deserved, but he is hoping the men in Claret and Blue will hit even greater heights as they get more comfortable in Lopetegui’s system.
He said: “I think we did very well after some not good results at home. We won and we played well. I think it was a good result and now we need to stay in this way.
“I think we put in a lot of intensity, a high press, and all the time we tried to play for this. All the time we tried to score, so this is good. With the possession as well, with the ball, we did it very well. We put in the high press for all the 90 minutes, so I think for this week, we deserved to get this result.
“I think since the first day with the new manager, we always try to do everything well and of course, when you don't win some people can say things are wrong, but we always work harder and we always try to win every game.
“I think it was a good result, but it's just the beginning. We need to stay in this focus and try to win more games.”
Emerson made reference to the high press, which was led by the four goalscorers in the main, supported by Tomáš Souček, and which repeatedly led to Ipswich turning the ball over to West Ham inside their own territory.
Three of the hosts’ four goals came from winning the ball back inside Ipswich’s half, and the Italian left-back was quick to praise the work done by his teammates high up the pitch, both in pressing and in creating and scoring goals
“It's good for confidence, of course,” he confirmed. “They did very well. Jarrod was unbelievable and it's good for everyone. Everyone scored, so we are happy for them, because we try always to help them to score the goals. And everyone scored, so we are happy for them as well.
“Every player at the front wants to score and wants to make assists. They want to make an impact on our game because they are top players. They understand that you can’t do it in every game, but they have the quality to do it in every game so, because of this, sometimes you can see they are a bit frustrated but, in the end, they always work for the team.
“If you do the high press, that’s because of them because they start the press and at the end of the day we’re happy for them because they scored goals and helped us a lot.”
