Ogbonna: Playing pain-free has really helped me
WHUFC.com
Angelo Ogbonna says playing pain-free has been the main reason behind his fine form for West Ham United. A year ago this month, the Italian underwent successful surgery to fix a long-standing and debilitating knee injury which he had played through for the majority of his professional career. Now fully recovered, Ogbonna is fitter than he has been in years and the Hammers are reaping the rewards, with the 29-year-old playing every minute of the Club's last 23 matches in all competitions. "I feel very good," he confirmed. "When I am fit I am prepared to play every game. Of course, I feel a little bit tired sometimes, but everything is mental, so if you are prepared mentally, you can perform to your best physically. "I am definitely benefitting from having the operation on my knee, because I needed that surgery. Everybody knows it was an injury I had for a long time and they advised me to have the surgery, so I had it done and it has really helped me. "Since I had the surgery, our head physiotherapist Dominic Rogan has worked with me many times on my rehabilitation and he helped me to do the things right and get myself ready to play at 100 per cent."
Ogbonna has arguably been West Ham's most-consistent defender this season, ranking first in clearances made, joint-first in shots blocked, second in interceptions, third in aerial battles won and third in pass-completion percentage. While he has been admirably consistent, helping the Hammers to collect 20 points from their last 12 Premier League matches, the No21 is demanding more, aided by the 'discipline' instilled by manager David Moyes.
"It's good but it's not enough because we're looking to get as many points as we can. Now I think we are in a positive mood. "When the team was doing really bad, we changed the manager and he has brought a lot of energy and a lot of positive things, but the most important thing he brought was discipline because with discipline, you can build whatever you want. "Every manager has his type of method, but the important thing was the discipline, because with this you can train harder or train less, but you know what you have to do."
When Moyes was appointed in November, Ogbonna likened the new manager's methods to those which he enjoyed during two seasons with Italian champions Juventus. Three months on and the centre-half's opinion has not changed. "He is not just like an Italian manager, but like a European manager. Today, everything in football is improving and we are doing lots of things – tactics, positional work, technical work, running – and in the Premier League this is essential, because it is the hardest league in the world and, if you are not fit, you cannot go ahead. "We improved a lot in the last month or two. We changed the shape [to three-at-the-back], but it's not just that. We run much better than before, not only in distance but in the quality of our running.
"Every game has its story and every game is different, so we prepare for every game differently, to give ourselves the best chance of winning or drawing. Even when we struggled with injuries, we found the right shape with the right players in the right positions."
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Debut delight for 15-year-old midfielder
WHUFC.com
It was an U23 debut to remember for 15-year-old central midfielder Dan Chesters on Saturday as he was introduced as a late substitute tasked with seeing out the 1-0 Premier League 2 victory over Liverpool. Chesters – who has already impressed on a number of occasions for the U18s this campaign – was given five minutes to show his qualities in Merseyside at the end of the huge Division 1 clash. And the youngster got on the ball a couple of times, spraying one or two passes wide and showing why he was in the matchday squad on merit.
After the victory, Chesters – who turns 16 in April – reflected on what had been a day to remember. He said: "It was a special day, and one that I really enjoyed. To be honest, at the start of the season, I wouldn't have expected that I'd make my U23s debut before the end of the campaign, so it's amazing for me. "I just wanted to make sure I got a couple of games for the U18s, and if I did that, to try and cement a place in that team, to get my place in the squad, so to come and play at this level is great. "I really enjoyed the day as a whole; it was good to get out on the pitch and play with the boys, but everything from the pre-match to the journey and being a sub was a great experience for me."
Often utilised as a No10 for Mark Phillips and Steve Potts' U18s, Chesters was brought into the midfield at Liverpool's Kirkby Academy to solidify the team with the hosts chasing the game. And although he admitted at first the nerves kicked in, the youngster enjoyed his cameo for Terry Westley's side. "I was a bit nervous when I first went out onto the pitch but I got a few early touches of the ball and felt as though that went pretty quickly," he continued. "We were just trying to shut Liverpool down, being 1-0 up, so that was the job we had to do and we did that."I want to get my place in the U18s squad sorted for the rest of the season and then think about progressing into the U23s after that."
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Ludek Miklosko: I can't believe the fans are still singing my name!
WHUFC.com
In honour of Ludek Miklosko making his West Ham United debut on this day 28 years ago, the goalkeeping great recounts his favourite moments in Claret and Blue...
A MIXED DEBUT AT SWINDON TOWN IN FEBRUARY 1990
I had signed for West Ham from Banik Ostrava in what was then Czechoslovakia Back then, before the internet and social media, players from outside the top European clubs were something of a mystery to English fans. So, I made my debut at Swindon Town and most of them didn't know too much about me and then they saw me make a big mistake for one of Swindon's goals! The goalkeeping coach Ernie Gregory, who was a fantastic man and great character, had been teaching me to catch the ball in the old style. There was a slight deflection off the wall from a free-kick and I tried to catch it his way, but the ball went between my body and my arm and into the net. That was the last time I tried his style of catching the ball! In the end, the game finished two-all, which wasn't that bad, but from that time I said I was going my way and carried on making saves how I was used to and it worked out OK.
OUR PROMOTION-WINNING SEASON IN 1990/91
We won promotion to the First Division in my first full season at the Club in 1990/91, and it was based on our strong defence. We conceded only 34 goals in 46 league matches and kept 21 clean sheets – just one short of the Club record from 1980/81. It was a fantastic year. We only scored 60 goals ourselves, and we won lots of games 1-0 or 2-1, so it wasn't easy. The guys in front of me really played very well and I had one of my best seasons for West Ham. We had Julian Dicks, Alvin Martin, Tony Gale, Steve Potts, Tim Breacker, Colin Foster and Chris Hughton, who were all top defenders.
STOPPING MANCHESTER UNITED WINNING THE TITLE IN MAY 1995
I have been asked about the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground in May 1995 so many times, but I will never get tired of talking about it! In fact, I was at Manchester United's training ground last week with some young goalkeepers – I am now a player representative – and there were staff members there who remembered that game. Some of them came up to me and talked about the game and a few of them said 'I was there and remember that game and I hated you!'. We had a good laugh about it. It was one of those games when everything went for me, but it was also a good team performance, too. We scored a good goal and we defended so well to stop Manchester United, who were a very good team and wanted to win the title on the final day of the season.
MY TERRACE CHANT ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE!
I can't remember exactly when it started, but I think I heard the fans sing the 'He comes from near Moscow' song for the first time two or three years before I left. It's really amazing that they are still singing it 20 years later!
CARRYING JIMMY WALKER AROUND THE MILLENNIUM STADIUM PITCH
I was not playing in the game, but one match I remember well is when we got promoted by beating Preston in the Championship Play-Off final in 2005.
I was coaching and obviously Jimmy Walker got injured just five minutes into the game and Stephen Bywater went on. We won 1-0 and we celebrated on the pitch. Jimmy couldn't walk, so he climbed on my back and I carried him around! I think that was a great day for the Club. The Club is not one person and it's for the fans, because they make the Club. We have fantastic fans and they support us through everything, good times and bad, and that's something amazing.
COMPLETING THE GREAT ESCAPE IN MAY 2007
I was also the goalkeeping coach when we went to Old Trafford to play Manchester United on the final day of the 2006/07 season. Unlike 1995, Manchester United had already won the Premier League title, but we knew we needed to win to ensure we were not relegated. It was not easy at all, but on that day everyone stuck together and, in the end, we won the game and it was great because we stayed up. Robert Green was our goalkeeper that afternoon and he had a match like I did at Upton Park 12 years before and he stopped everything. It was really very good.
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Sunday, February 18
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