Ryan Fredericks knows West Ham United’s performances have not been good enough in recent matches.
But the full-back also knows a unified and positive approach is the best way to help the Hammers return to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur after the international break.
Fredericks admitted the team has been under-performing, but asked the supporters who are feeling understandably disappointed and frustrated by recent results to keep the faith. It may be a well-worn footballing cliché, but it remains a valid one...
“We need to stick together,” the No24 implored. “We’re not giving the fans much to sing about and be happy about at the moment, but they’re a loyal bunch of fans, we know that.
“We get 60,000 turn up every week and credit to them. We’re not doing enough for them, but this is when we really need to stick together.
“This is a tough little spell but last season we did well against the better teams and we’re going to do everything we can to get three points against Spurs.”
The Irons made it six Premier League games without a win in losing 3-0 at Burnley on Saturday – a defeat caused by mistakes and compounded by injuries – to continue their worst run since Manuel Pellegrini took charge in the summer of 2018.
However, the right-back insisted the players will not feel sorry for themselves and asked the Claret and Blue Army to stick with them through the challenging times.
“If I could put my finger on it (why performances and results have dipped), I’d be a manager,” said the No24. “It’s hard to say. It’s not down to effort. We’re working harder than ever in training and working on everything we need to do in games, but it’s just not going for us now.
“But we’re a confident bunch and we’re not going to get too down. A couple of wins on the bounce and we’re back up in a better position in the table.
“It’s very tight and we’re only four points off seventh, or something like that. We’re an experienced bunch of lads, so we’re not going to get too down, and we just need to buck our ideas up and get going again.”
The last few games, we haven’t been good enough as a team, so we need to fix up and get going
Ryan Fredericks
Fredericks believes the international break will help the squad, not only to get on the training pitch and work on eradicating the issues that have cost them points in recent weeks, but also with the potential return of injured players such as Michail Antonio, Winston Reid and Michail Antonio.
“It is definitely going to help us,” he confirmed. “All the players we can get back at the moment are going to help us. We’re all pushing in the same direction so hopefully those lads can come back and get right into the swing of things, but it’s not just down to them, it’s down to us, the lads who have been playing.
“The last few games, we haven’t been good enough as a team, so we need to fix up and get going.”
