Angelo Ogbonnna admits West Ham United have massively underperformed this season and should be doing a lot better ahead of crunch game at Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic and Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino
The Hammers are sat 17th in the Premier League table, just one point above the bottom three after a torrid start to Slaven Bilic’s second season in charge.
The East Londoners have won just four of their opening 11 games and were unceremoniously dumped out of the Europa League qualifying by Romanian minnows Astra for the second season running.
Things don’t look like getting better any time soon going by the form book with a hellish fixture list on the horizon for the next month.
Under pressure: Bilic
Bilic’s out of form side go to bitter rivals Spurs next to play Mauricio Pochettino‘s unbeaten side followed by a double header against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a home game against Arsenal and a trip to Anfield to face title hopefuls Liverpool.
The trip to North London after the international break looks a daunting one for the Hammers.
But now key defender Ogbonna, who lost his place in the latest Italy squad as a result of West Ham’s poor form, has issued a rallying cry to his teammates on the club’s official website insisting they should all be doing more.
West Ham United’s Angelo Ogbonna with goalkeeper Adrian
“It is more important for us to get the three points in the situation we face at the moment and get back to winning ways,” Ogbonna told whufc.com ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane on Saturday.
“Our position in the table is not good and we want to make it better. We want to show our quality and that we can play against the big teams.
“We should be a lot higher in the table with the quality of players we have got in the squad.”
Tottenham’s Harry Kane awaits Ogbonna on Saturday
Ogbonna and his teammates will have their work cut out as he could well be partnered in central defence by two midfielders for the crunch showdown.
That’s according to the latest injury update from West Ham‘s head of medical and sports science Stijn Vandenbroucke which reveals young prodigy Reece Oxford is out and rates Winston Reid and James Collins‘ chances as touch and go.
Without Reid and Collins West Ham would probably be forced to play defensive midfielder Havard Nordtveit – who has endured a woeful start to life at the club since signing in the summer – at centre back alongside another midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate and Ogbonna.
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