West Ham star Manuel Lanzini feels the size of the London Stadium’s pitch played a role in the club’s poor early season form.
Speaking to the club’s official site, the 24 year old explained the players had to adapt to their new surroundings before they could start performing at home:
“The pitch and the stadium are much bigger than the previous ones [at the Boleyn Ground]. Now we have adapted to these changes and we achieved our target of remaining in Premier League. Next year, if we work hard, we will get a better result.”
The Hammers only managed two wins at home before December, beating Bournemouth 1-0 in their first home game at their new stadium back in August, and then Sunderland by the same scoreline back in October.
Slaven Bilic’s side only lost three matches all season at home last campaign but have lost eight this time around, having also conceded five more goals and scored 15 fewer in their 19 home games.
The struggles at home have no doubt played a role in the sizeable 20 point difference between this season and last campaign. West Ham will certainly need to make the London stadium into more of a fortress if they want a different outcome next year.
