Declan Rice praised the quality of Gianluca Scamacca after the Italy striker netted his first Premier League goal in West Ham United’s 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Scamacca thrashed home a stunning volley in the first half – a finish Rice explained has become commonplace on the training ground over the past few weeks.
On the other side of the interval, Jarrod Bowen hit the Hammer’s second of the afternoon. His equally clinical finish secured a third straight home win over Wolves.
As expected then, Rice was delighted with the forwards’ contributions, but the skipper made it clear that a team performance brought three points in east London.
We knew, as players, that the start to the season has been below what we've set over the past two years.
We really wanted to go out there today and get the three points no matter how we played. We just wanted that win. We got that in the end and that is something to build on for the Fulham game.
There were spells when we played really well, spells when we didn't do as well but we were resilient. We've got to keep building now; we need to keep pushing players, and we really need to keep kicking on.
Scamacca's strike is no surprise, I see it in training every day.
He has probably scored about 20 worldies since he's been here, and I've just gone: ‘wow; he can hit a ball.’
When he gets the space, he can really deliver for us. So, I am buzzing that he scored. But his all-around contribution today, He really linked the game well, and he looks to be a real positive threat for us.
Gianluca has got one of the best strikes of a ball I have ever seen. It’s crazy. When it went into the top corner there was no surprise at all.
We could have had more than two today, for sure.
But it was a really positive performance. Everyone's worked really hard this week, the manager, the players, the staff. We want to kick on from now. We knew how big the game was today. We said whatever we do today we come off that pitch knowing we've won the game and we're really happy with that.
I see [our quality] every day in training.
Some of the passes we played today. Paqueta played one in his first half with his left foot, and it was just out of this world. We need to keep getting him on the ball, keep making him feel like he can do whatever he wants, giving him that confidence.
But it's hard, we started with a completely different front four from previous seasons. It's going to take time to gel or to understand each other's game. But I think we deserved to win; the positive thing was that we could have scored more today.
There were a lot of good performances today.
Tomáš was brilliant. He will always give you 100 per cent. He’ll come off the pitch with nothing left. He works his socks off and makes my life easier. That's what we need, a team of eleven players who give their all and I think we've done that today.
Daws as well coming back in his first Premier League game this season didn't look out of place. He brings that solidity, heart, and desire. Jarrod is back amongst the goals which will do a lot of good for his confidence.
I've said it before - West Ham fans are one of the best in the world.
It's incredible support. They will travel anywhere to see to scream your name. If you work hard, and give it your all, you're remembered. So, massive thanks to them today and of course we are buzzing to have got the win and on to the next one.
