As their 2020/21 season begins to drift towards its final chapter, West Ham United U23s lead coach Dmitri Halajko has challenged his players to demonstrate their progress as individuals in the remainder of the campaign.
The Hammers’ development squad have struggled for form in Premier League 2 Division 1 this season, having picked up only two wins – and a total of nine points – from 16 games played.
There is still plenty for them to fight for, however; the U23s have games in hand on the teams above them, with eight games in which to close a gap of eight points if they are to avert relegation to Division 2.
As the players face up to the final third of their league season, Halajko feels their current priority should be proving the course of their development.
He told whufc.com: “I think the most important thing they concentrate on is their individual journey at the moment.
The time of the season where decisions are made on contract renewals is coming up, and the players will want to push on and progress. If you don’t get that right, nothing else really matters.
“Individual development is always the number one priority. The team’s development is still a priority, but secondary.
“At the moment we haven’t really got enough individuals pushing in the right direction. That’s where we need to look. We need to look at ourselves as individual players and look ourselves in the mirror and say ‘how can I be better and how can I push on? How can I make sure we get to the next level?’.
“I think we all just need to concentrate on ourselves at the moment and get the best possible version of ourselves out on the pitch, week in, week out, and then hopefully individuals can start progressing and that will help the team progress. “
The U23s put in a battling display against league leaders Manchester City on Monday afternoon, going toe-to-toe in the first half before falling away to their class in the second.
In the last game we played against Liverpool, I thought we did well against them and we should have got more out of the game than what we got
Dmitri Halajko
A 5-0 defeat at the City Football Academy therefore seemed a harsh reflection on a game in which the Hammers were the better team for stretches of the play, yet were ultimately picked off after they failed to recover from an early concession after the restart.
Halajko’s Hammers will have the chance to right those wrongs when they make their second trip to the north-west this week, travelling to Liverpool Academy to take on the Reds on Saturday afternoon.
In November, West Ham’s U23s could consider themselves unfortunate to be on the end of a 4-2 reverse to Liverpool’s youngsters in east London, when a snap sending off turned the game on its head.
Halajko therefore feels his players will have no wont for motivation against Liverpool U23s, who currently sit eighth in the Premier League 2 table having recorded two wins from their last seven games.
He said: “In the last game we played against Liverpool, I thought we did well against them and we should have got more out of the game than what we got.
“Of course, we had a sending off that day, but we were still fighting with ten men the whole way through to get the equaliser, and we were unlucky not to score it right at the end.
“We’ll want to put that right and we’ll want to put Monday right. That’s what our efforts will go into.”
West Ham United U23s take on Liverpool U23s on Saturday 13 March in a behind-closed-doors fixture. Kick-off is at 4pm; you can follow all the action with our live blog on whufc.com from 3.30pm.
Please note that Academy fixtures will be played behind closed doors until further notice. Only key personnel will be admitted on site and the match will be played without supporters present, in line with safety guidelines and social distancing measures in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
