From the Terraces

Martelli D'Italia supporters' club founder Nicola Morosini welcomes Pedro Obiang and Slaven Bilic to West Ham United


Ciao Hammers!

I and all the Martelli D’Italia members are of course happy to have signed Pedro Obiang from the Italian club Sampdoria this week.

He is a young player with great prospects for the future and I personally like this kind of West Ham player. I think he could do very well at West Ham and I hope he will do.

We have seen a lot of Obiang over the last few seasons with Sampdoria and I can tell you that he is a midfielder that can play just in front of the defensive line, like he did at the start of his career, and also in the central part of the midfield.

Normally, he does not score very much but he gives a vital contribution with his teamwork in the central area of the field.

Sampdoria have changed managers a few times in recent years, but he always played even when he was a little bit injured, which means that he is a very useful player for the team. 

As for his qualities, he is very a physical player with an athletic build and he is great in possession of the ball. He has also got concentration and determination with a little bit of bravery.

His vision could be useful for the construction of the play and his man-marking and work-rate could help in the defensive phase when the opposition have got the ball. Should Alex Song return to the Club, he would be able to play alongside him.

With his defensive teamwork, the technical midfielders in the team could be freed up to build West Ham’s possession and attacking play.
Obiang is very a physical player with an athletic build and he is great in possession of the ball. He has also got concentration and determination with a little bit of bravery
Obiang did very well for Sampdoria and has played in the Europa League and for Spain at youth level, but the Premier league is a different thing.

The thing with the Premier League is that you have a very short time to think what to do because everything is quick.

Of course I hope he will play well from the first match and throughout the season but I think that he has to improve his decision-making, he will have to think and do everything more quickly than any match he played so far, and of course run a lot!

It may not be easy for him at the start but, if he can keep his concentration high, he could do very well.

I would also like to give my reaction to Slaven Bilic being appointed as the new manager.

He is a former Hammer, so the tradition has been respected. He has got great experience in different environments, from international football to the Turkish and Russian championships, so he could do well in England.

Of course I am looking forward to seeing what he can do but don’t forget that this could be a long season with the Europa League starting on 2 July, so he needs time and some new good players in every area of the field, except maybe for the goalkeeper.

We could do well but everyone needs to be together and pulling in the same direction. The last two seasons, we played well for only half of the season, so this time we need to do better to give a great farewell to the Boleyn Ground.

Come on you Irons!

Nicola Morosini
Founder, Martelli D’Italia (Hammers of Italy)