Shelina Zadorsky has enjoyed her first full week as a West Ham United player.
The 31-year-old Canadian defender was officially announced as a Hammer on 3 January, becoming the second signing in January for Rehanne Skinner, who has also added Kristie Mewis and Katrina Gorry to the squad.
Zadorsky has made the switch from Tottenham Hotspur, signing on loan until the end of the 2023/24 campaign, and has already settled in nicely at Chadwell Heath.
Having captained Spurs under Skinner during her time in north London, the commanding centre back has enjoyed working out on the training pitch with the manager again, this time in Claret & Blue.
Indeed, she is full prepared for the challenge ahead, as the Hammers look to climb the Barclays Women’s Super League table, but before that, they head to west London to face Chelsea in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round on Sunday afternoon.
Zadorsky chatted with Jess Baker-Smith earlier this week to preview the FA Cup tie against the current holders of the competition.
It feels like I’ve jumped into a new family here at West Ham.
It’s been a really good first week. Everyone has been really welcoming and it’s exciting to be here.
Having played against West Ham plenty of times whilst at Spurs, the games were always such a battle and really hard fought. The Club is built on that hardworking mentality, and coming here, you can see that coming from the staff and the players.
But on top of that, everyone is really nice and welcoming, so there’s a good balance of that grit and fight, but also that family feel.
Bringing in fresh faces and energy is a good thing for everyone.
To be coming in alongside two other players is a nice feeling. The Club have been able to add a lot of experience to the team, and it’s been great to work with Kristie and Katrina.
It’s nice to not be the only new player, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them so far.
It’s been fun to be working with Rehanne again.
I developed a great relationship with her at Tottenham, and to be back working together with her and to have her challenge and get the best out of me again has been great.
As a defender, I want to slot right in and help create positive results and keep more clean sheets.
It’s been a hard week of training to prepare for the cup game, and we’re ready for the matches that we have coming up this month.
The FA Cup is a such a big tournament.
I’m excited for the match. When it’s a cup game, you want to do everything you can to get to the next round.
To have a game against Chelsea, what a match to start our campaign and for me to try and make a difference for this team.
I’m excited to meet the West Ham fans.
As a player, I thrive off getting to know the fans.The fan base is such a big part of footballer, especially here in England.
Being able to build off of the momentum of the fans and being able to connect with them and hopefully continue building an even larger fan base for the team. They all really push us as players, so for me it’s really exciting to think about meeting them over the coming weeks and hopefully I can perform and put on a show as well.
I’m ready for the challenge of the second half of the season.
I’ll give it everything I have in anything I’m doing, so I’m definitely ready for the challenge.
There are some great players here and there’s so much potential for us to pick up some great results.
