Graham Potter insists his West Ham United players are working to improve every single day, as they continue their preparations for Saturday afternoon’s Premier League trip to Everton.
The Hammers are looking to bounce back to winning ways following Monday evening’s narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United, that brought an end to an encouraging run of back-to-back triumphs over Arsenal and Leicester City.
Despite the disappointing result, the goal conceded against the Magpies marks the only breach of West Ham’s backline over the last three outings, and Potter believes his defenders have made considerable progress during the nine weeks he has been in charge.
Indeed, he praised the way his whole team have taken on board his ideas, and adapted to injury issues, all over the pitch, and he is hopeful they can mark their last-ever visit to Goodison Park in the right way this weekend.
Ahead of their summer move to the newly-constructed Bramley-Moore Dock home, the Toffees are currently enjoying a run of fine form under former West Ham boss David Moyes, who - similar to Potter - was appointed in January.
Since defeat in his first match in charge, the Scotsman has overseen an eight-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League, including a victory over Tottenham Hotspur and a draw at home to runaway leaders Liverpool.
As it stands, 15th-placed Everton sit one spot above West Ham in the top-flight rankings, by virtue of goal difference, and a win for either team could lift them up to 13th, and ahead of Spurs and Manchester United, should results go their way.
An enticing encounter lies in store on Merseyside, then, and with anticipation for kick-off continuing to build, Potter sat down with the gathered press at Rush Green training ground to discuss ongoing work behind-the-scenes and the kind of test he’s expecting from the Blues.
Defensive improvements
Over the last year or so West Ham have conceded a lot of goals in the Premier League, and I think we’ve managed to change that dynamic a little bit. That’s a foundation that I think is really important, because you need that stability at the back.
You can’t rely on having to score two goals in the Premier League. You can talk all you like about attacking football, but if you’re not stable defensively it’s very difficult.
We always want to improve, obviously, and there are areas that we do need to improve, but in the last three matches we’ve got six points and conceded one goal. Overall, I’m really happy with the players.
Working all over the pitch
We’ve been competitive in all the games we’ve played. We’ve gone to Arsenal, we’ve gone to Chelsea, we’ve gone to Aston Villa twice and we’ve played Newcastle, and we’ve been competitive every time.
From an attacking perspective, we’ve had injuries and had to adapt. We’ve had no [Michail] Antonio, no [Niclas] Füllkrug, [Jarrod] Bowen was missing for a few weeks, we’ve missed [Lucas] Paquetá and [Crysencio] Summerville, so there is a context to look at when you’re analysing things.
Ferguson progressing day by day
He’s where we expected him to be when he came in. He came in as a young player who has had time out with injuries, to come and help the squad, and that’s what he’s done.
He came on against Brentford and made a good impact, and he’s done well when he’s been in the games. He’s building himself up all the time, and we’re really happy with him.
Bouncing back after Newcastle defeat
It was a bit of a 50-50 game, and it was a committed performance from us. Newcastle are challenging to finish in the top four, and it was a tight match that finished in their favour.
One goal decided it, and from our point of view that goal was little bit dubious. But, that can happen, and we just have to focus on what we can do better and coming back stronger against Everton at the weekend.
Ready for Toffees test
It’s going to be a tough game - Goodison Park is always a difficult place to go. Everton is a fantastic club with great tradition and very passionate supporters. I’ve got some good memories of games there, and hopefully there’s room for one more.
David’s got them really organised, and they’ve built on their defensive stability by scoring goals, so they’ve got a really good combination.
Beto’s come in and been really dangerous, and [Jake] O’Brien has given them a different dimension. They’ve had some impressive results, and we’re going to have to play well to beat them, for sure.
Familiar face in the home dugout
David’s done a really good job up there. He’s a top, top coach, and someone I have huge respect for.
He achieved a lot here at West Ham. He won a major trophy and his teams were competitive towards the top end of the Premier League table for several seasons, and I know how hard that is.
I think we all want to improve all the time, but David set a high bar here, and everyone at the Club has a lot of respect for him. We all wish him well at Everton, just not on Saturday!
