Eyal: I Loved Hammers

Eyal Berkovic, who returned to Upton Park on Saturday in Manchester City colours, reckons that he enjoyed the best time of his career in east London.

"It was nice to see some old friends," he says, "and I had a very good time at West Ham - I enjoyed my time there a lot.

"In fact I played my best football there; and it is always nice to go back - we played very good football - it was excellent."

Upton Park has changed somewhat, of course, since he did turn out in the claret and blue, and he adds:

"I think it gives the visitors a good reception; it used to be very tight and a a very difficult place to come but now it is much easier because the condition is much better.

"But still I think West Ham is a good team and they deserve to be in the middle of the table and not the bottom."

Although Eyal was at the club when Joe Cole was still making his way through to becoming a first team regular, he has been watching his progress with interest and says:

"Everybody he knows he is a big talent and a great player - he still needs more experience and he will become one of the top players in the world."

Meanwhile, he reveals that City's game plan was, indeed, to frustrate the Hammers on Saturday - and he thinks his side got what they came for.

"We are very pleased to get our first away point and we came to be more organised at the back, which we did very well - we deserved a point," he says.