Kurt Zouma is determined to lead West Ham United back to winning ways when his team hosts Brentford in the Premier League on Monday evening.
The captain has been hurt by the Hammers’ recent dip in form, which has seen them fail to win any of the eight games they have played in 2024, knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup and drop from sixth to ninth in the Premier League table.
However, victory over the Bees at London Stadium could see the Irons – who have been drawn to face SC Freiburg of Germany in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 – climb back into the top seven and boost their hopes of qualifying for European competition for the fourth season in succession.
Zouma knows he and his teammates have not performed to their potential in recent matches and has vowed that they will do their best, individually and collectively, to produce their best when they return to action on Monday.
“We are ready to go,” he told whufc.com. “We know we’re in a bad period but we know how football is. When you have some bad moments, you have to stick together as a team and as a family, so we’ll do that and hopefully we can turn things around pretty quick, because we need a result and we need the points as well.
“It’s not a crisis, but a bad moment, so hopefully we can turn things around and get back to where we were before Christmas.”
While some captains choose to demonstrate their authority on the pitch vocally, Zouma prefers to issue his rallying cries in the dressing room, where he speaks to his teammates and makes it clear what he expects from them when the whistle blows.
“I captain my way and I don’t talk a lot outside,” he explained. “We have an experienced group and everyone talks to each other and we know what we’ve done wrong and what we can improve. The reality is we’re all tight and moving in the same way and we want to provide for everyone.
“You don’t need to shout to be a leader. We are not kids any more, we are grown-ups and we all understand what we’ve done wrong and we know we need to pull together and do better.
“Nobody wants to lose. Everyone wants to score, to win and to have fun, but it is what it is. You have to accept sometimes that it doesn’t go your way and, as a group, it hasn’t been the best of West Ham since the beginning of the year, but hopefully we’ll get back to what we really are and show the qualities we have in the dressing room.”
While recent results have been underwhelming, Zouma is experienced enough to know that one win can change the atmosphere around the Club, and looked back to last June’s UEFA Europa Conference League final celebrations for inspiration ahead of a big game under the lights.
“If we win this one, the confidence will be much higher and that’s what we’re all looking for,” he confirmed.
“We know we’re going through a bad moment, but we all need to be together and have the fans behind us to help us get the wins.”
