Injured West Ham United star Aaron Cresswell has thrown his weight behind Slaven Bilic’s stark reminder to his squad and the club’s fans.
West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell in action against Saturday’s opponents Watford
The Hammers have been busy over the summer with Slaven Bilic reshaping his squad for a season he hoped would include European football.
The Hammers were linked with all and sundry over the last few months as the club geared up for its inaugural season at the 60,000-seater Olympic Stadium – now referred to as the London Stadium.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
The former Croatia manager had been building to ensure he had enough depth to compete at home and abroad, but his side were embarrassingly dumped out by Romanian side Astra Giurgiu in the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League.
The East Londoners were actually one of the busiest clubs of the window. bringing in 13 players.
They signed Manuel Lanzini, Havard Nordtveit, Toni Martinez, Domingos Quina, Sofiane Feghouli, Ashley Fletcher, Gokhan Tore (loan), Arthur Masuaku, Jonathan Calleri (loan), Edimilson Ferdnandes, Alvaro Arbeloa and broke their transfer record with the £20.5 signing of Andre Ayew from Swansea City.
Italy’s Simone Zaza is the star arrival for West Ham
Hammers have been busy nailing deals
That record will be broken again when on loan Italy striker Simeone Zaza plays the 15 games to trigger West Ham’s £25m obligation to buy him from Juventus.
A wave of injuries have not only derailed Bilic’s best laid European plans but also made for a disappointing start to the Premier League campaign with two defeats from the opening three games – albeit on the road against rejuvenated Chelsea and Manchester City.
It has prompted Bilic to fire a warning to his squad and the club’s fans that moving to their big, shiny new stadium will not automatically lead to success.
West Ham fans at the London Stadium
‘We won’t take anything for granted’
And now Aaron Cresswell, who is recovering from a knee ligament injury and will be out until Christmas, has backed his manager’s comments in an interview with the club’s official website.
“I don’t think we could have asked for a much tougher start and of course there was expectation, moving to the new ground and with new training facilities and everything else,” Cresswell told whufc.com.
“But as the gaffer said, just because we have a new stadium, that doesn’t put points on the board.
“We knew as players that we won’t take anything for granted. We want to work hard and work for everything we get and I’m sure that’s what we’ll be doing throughout this season.”
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