- Jose Fonte confident he will soon produce his best form in a West Ham United shirt
- Portugal defender drawing on experience of working under Pochettino, Koeman and Bilic
- Experienced centre-half also possesses great self-belief after successful recent seasons
Jose Fonte says the experience of working under three top-class managers will help him overcome a challenging start to his West Ham United career.
The experienced centre-half has tasted victory just once in his opening six Premier League appearances for the Hammers – a 3-1 win at his former club Southampton in February, where he received flak from the same supporters who, until recently, considered him a hero.
A UEFA Euro 2016 winner with Portugal last summer, Fonte spent this final four years at St Mary’s Stadium under the guidance of former Argentina defender Mauricio Pocchetino and long-time Netherlands centre-half and sweeper Ronald Koeman.
At West Ham, the 33-year-old is now working with former Croatia centre-back Slaven Bilic, and Fonte is confident everything he has learned from that high-profile trio of mentors will help him to produce his best form in a Hammers shirt.
“It helps massively to have a coach who played in the same position as me,” said Fonte, who will hope to experience his second victory in Claret and Blue when Premier League champions Leicester City visit London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“In my last few years I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman and now Slaven, so I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the best and I will improve however I can with him. I just want to get better.
“You take anything you can from your managers, but the small details make the difference. You’ve got to pay attention, because when managers like them speak, they know what they are talking about. You take everything that they say and try to replicate it in the game.
In my last few years I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had Mauricio Pochettino, Ronald Koeman and now Slaven, so I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the best and I will improve however I can with him
Jose Fonte
“They were experienced managers and great players, so you’ve got to take what they say in. With Pocchetino, for example, we worked a lot on improving the physical aspect on the training ground, on interceptions, on playing out from the back, making the right angles, sliding across to be in the right positions all the time, and the distances between the players in the back four – small details that you pick up along the way.
“With Koeman, he gave me a lot of confidence and believed in me a lot. I’m very grateful for what he has done for me. He gave me the armband when he arrived and put a lot of trust in me and that’s one aspect that really helps you, because he gave me the confidence to perform.
“You can see on the touchline that Slaven is very different than most managers. He is honest, direct and a football person himself. He was a centre-back himself, he has character and an aura and I’m just pleased to be working with him and learning from him.
“I’m old enough now to deal with any situation. Obviously, it’s nice to have the confidence of the manager and everyone, but you need to have some self-confidence and belief, because if you don’t, it doesn’t matter if others believe in you.”
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