There is a very insightful interview with Thilo Kherer on the West Ham official site, in which he talks about tonight`s game, the difficulties adapting to the Premier league and the new found confidence in the squad.
He claims not unnaturally ahead of Thursday’s match, we can take a lot of confidence from the weekend and that the Manchester United game was a really good showing from everyone.
Thilo Kehrer believes his fine performance against Manchester United has given him confidence.
Everything was great from performance, the team, the spirit, the fans and the atmosphere, everything came together to get the win.
And he added that he felt Manchester United was our best performances of the season and the last game and the run we had our performances were getting up in the last month or so.
He added that he was very happy us players, we had goose bumps because of the energy of the team and the fans on Sunday night.
He said: I felt calm and composed and, in the game, I felt confident. And that showed in my performance. I think it was probably my best showing in a West Ham shirt so far.
And performances such as Sunday are what I know I am capable of. And I have a clear goal to try and show that consistently in all the games.
It is very good timing for us to have found some form and some better performances.
I learnt quickly that the intensity and physicality is very different between Ligue 1 and the Premier League. The competitiveness of all the teams is so close and you just have to be at the top of your game, for every game. It has taken some time but I feel settled in now.
When I arrived, I was playing straight away. I had to play and adapt. It happened very quickly but I am happy now because I know there were some games where I did not play as well as I can – and that can be because of different things – but the important thing is what I took out of them and what I learnt in order to progress.
We feel that and even though the results were not what we wanted in the last few games prior to Manchester United, we knew the performance was getting better, so we stayed confident in that. And that gave us the result.
And so, I think we have found more confidence and more stability in ourselves and in our game. Of course, the win has given us a lot of confidence heading into the match against AZ Alkmaar. We had some good games, and we had some bad games, but we seem to be picking up at the right time.
The end of the season is when the results are most important. It’s where you win trophies, or you stay in the league. So, it is very good timing for us to have found some form and some better performances right now.
For us, to have this energy heading into Thursday’s match is just the right time. And we want to keep going that way. We feel as if we have made a big step towards Premier League safety following the win over Manchester United but now it is time to focus on the UEFA Conference League.
AZ Alkmaar will be a tough test. No team gets to a semi-final unless they are a good team and full of good players, so we know we will have to be at our best.
The UEFA Conference League is a competition we are happy to be in and happy to compete in. We are aware of the privilege of playing in the competition. And now we are in the semi-final, we want to go all the way to the end.
Well said Thilo !
Very few players hit the ground running on their arrival to Premier League football and hopefully, those who had already written him off, have now had a change of heart.
Understanding and patience seems to be missing these days.
Well done Thilo keep putting in those performances, as you have already shown that you’re not one to hide.
COYI
Your attitude to Moyes and his players has changed over the months too
No, I don’t think attitude is the correct term, but I believe that it is all about gaining an understanding when searching for reasons as to why a player isn’t performing as well as hoped. Turns out that getting accustomed to our frentic league took him a little time. Which seems to be a common theme with players arriving in this country, whether here at West Ham or any of the other clubs in our league.
They say wisdom comes with age, so I feel that I’m getting there.
Kehrer had mistakes in him in the earlier part of the season but so many foreign players seem to take a long time to adapt to the intensity of the premier league. I had a feeling given time Kehrer would would come good eventually. I don’t think you get to be a German international unless you’ve got something about you.