Hammers defender knows exactly what to expect
Emerson has undoubtedly become one of David Moyes‘ most successful signings during his time at the club and knows exactly what to expect from Crystal Palace this afternoon. The left back has shown himself to be a good buy both at the back and going forward and has become a successful No 1 in the position as Aaron Cresswell passes through the last days of his Hammers career.
The Brazilian-born defender made his 50th appearance just before the international break and the has become increasingly impressive over this time in claret and blue. The official site chooses to declare his time at the club by saying it has been a season-and-a-half of triumph, challenges and personal growth with which it is difficult to disagree
Hammers defender knows exactly what to expect
Talking to the matchday programme for today’s clash against Forest the player claims that one thing is certain and that is that you’re always going to have a tough game when you play the south Londoners. He of course remembers that we both Premier League matches against them last season.
He says: “All London derbies are big games. I can remember facing Palace when I was at Chelsea. They have never been easy opponents. They are a physical team with some really talented players, and a couple of them are very good with the ball. They had a good season last year with Roy Hodgson back as manager.
“Some players like Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze have a lot of individual quality, and they are tough for any defender to come up against. They are game-changers for Palace. They will want to come here and create chances and score goals.
“We need to be aggressive and brave with the ball. When we haven’t got the ball, we need to remain compact. If we leave too much space then players like Olise and Eze will show their quality and cause us problems. It will be tough but we are at home, with our fans cheering us on, and we want to win this game for them.”