West Ham United star Angelo Ogbonna says the club must not get sidetracked by Champions League daydreams.
The Hammers took a huge step forward in their first season under Slaven Bilic with a club record Premier League points haul seeing them finishing agonisingly just four points off the Champions League places.
A total of 14 draws that season – the joint most in the league – ultimately cost them but there were so many plus points including a first positive goal difference since 1986.
Last season was a complete contrast, though, as Bilic’s side struggled for any kind of form or consistency for much of a torrid campaign.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic
Problems ranging from poor recruitment to the Dimitri Payet saga and the fallout from the move to the Olympic Stadium made for an attritional campaign.
But the East Londoners pulled through and actually did reasonably well to finish 11th.
Impressive transfer business this summer has once again raised expectations around the club.
The acquisitions of Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez and Pablo Zabaleta as well as the capture of Joe Hart on a season long loan have created a real buzz among fans.
More signings are expected to follow too as West Ham look to re-establish themselves in the pack of teams looking to challenge the elite.
But Italian international and fan favourite Angelo Ogbonna has told the club to forget talk of Europe and maintain a steely focus in an interview with the official website.
“We want to show ourselves better than last season and I think the board have done well and we have signed good players,” Ogbonna told whufc.com.
“I think my idea is to start over this new season so that step-by-step we don’t need to make the same mistakes like we did last season.
Angelo Ogbonna
“We don’t need to talk about finishing higher or top-four, but we need to do better than last season. We need to concentrate on our work – this is very important.”
The amount of money spent this summer already is an indicator to just how competitive the Premier League is going to be.
West Ham’s progress as a team will hinge on how quickly the new players can gel and how often Bilic can get his best XI on the pitch at the same time.
But Ogbonna is right to be cautious and the club will need to hit the ground running with three consecutive away games to start the season at Manchester United, Newcastle and Southampton.
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