Defender Emerson is itching to return to Premier League action following the September international break, as he and his teammates put the final touches on their preparations for Saturday afternoon’s trip to London neighbours Fulham.
The Italy international has started each of the Hammers’ three top-flight outings in the 2024/25 season so far, which have yielded two defeats and one win, including a spirited loss at home to defending champions Manchester City last time out.
With Head Coach Julen Lopetegui having come into the fold over the summer, and a hive of transfer activity seeing a number of players come and go, Emerson believes the squad is now settled and ready to build on a feast of exciting signs from throughout the campaign’s opening stages.
“I think it’s been a decent start overall, even though we maybe haven’t got all of the results we were looking for,” the 30-year-old said. “We have got a good feeling about some of our performances, and sometimes in football you can play well but maybe not get the rewards.
“Against Manchester City, there were some good things. Of course, it’s always tough against them, but we tried to win the match and especially in the second half we were pleased.
“I definitely feel like we can take that game and look to improve going forward now. We are all enjoying working with the new coach, and we just need to keep transferring what we’re doing in training to the games. For us that starts again with the match against Fulham.”
After being tasked with stopping the likes of Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and Jérémy Doku against City at London Stadium at the end of last month, Emerson is braced for a head-to-head battle with Fulham’s Adama Traoré this weekend.
West Ham’s No33 has featured twice at Craven Cottage previously in his career - winning with former club Chelsea in 2019 before being part of the Irons’ humbling 5-0 defeat last season - and he is determined to put memories of the latter to bed on his return to west London.
Emerson said: “Fulham have a lot of good players, and one of them is Adama Traoré. He is very quick and good at attacking spaces, so the whole team will need to be wary of him, as well as everyone who lines up for the opponent.
“I have mixed memories of playing at Fulham. After what happened last season we want to change things. We know it won’t be easy, but we’re confident in our ability and hopefully we can get the job done.”
