The West Ham United man was key to the win over Palace on Saturday.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has shared the message he gave Simone Zaza following the win over Crystal Palace to the Daily Mail.
The Italian forward joined the Hammers in the summer transfer window, signing on loan from Serie A giants Juventus.
However, it has been a poor start to life in London for him as he has gone eight games without a goal so far.
His goalless streak continued against Palace on Saturday but his overall high tempo performance earned rave reviews from fans and pundits alike.
Bilic was one of those impressed and told the Daily Mail that he shared that message to the striker.
“The goals will come, the goals are very important for the strikers but I want to see him like this,” he said.
“I told him after the game, ‘Zaza, tonight you won more balls in the air against two centre-halves than you did in four or five games so far’. Without him we wouldn’t have won, it’s as simple as that.”
Zaza was certainly in impressive form against Palace, with his tireless performance playing a key role in the eventual win.
It is the kind of display that Hammers fans want to see moving forward, and more of the same will earn him more plaudits in future.
Strikers are rated on their goal tallies, though, and he will have to start finding the back of the net sooner rather than later to avoid being labelled a flop.
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