West Ham United defender Pablo Zabaleta has addressed the one thing that the team must work on in time for this weekend’s clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Hammers secured their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup after a nervous 3-1 victory over League One side AFC Wimbledon, but the former Manchester City man insists there is one thing that they must improve on before they take on Wolves in their fourth game of the Premier League season.
The first teamer believes that the Irons are not effective enough in the final third, and that they need to be more clinical in order to maximise their attacking threat.
“Them [Wimbledon] going down to ten men made it a little easier for us but we need to improve in the final third. We are creating so many chances and we need to be more clinical and of course improve on set plays too,” he told the club’s official website.
“We conceded in the last game on a set play as well so we need to be stronger than that.”
OPINION
Pablo Zabaleta has hit the nail on the head here with his analysis of the team’s performance on Tuesday night. Yes, they got the job done, but it is easy to forget that they were playing a third tier side with only ten men on the pitch. If anything, their victory was not the most convincing that we have seen from them, and Zabaleta is right in saying that they need to be more clinical in the final third. Lucas Perez was not effective enough in that area of the pitch, and should have done better against a significantly weaker team. He had the chance to show what he was made of yesterday, but he did not take it, and now he is definitely not in the running for a first team Premier League appearance. Nevertheless, the Hammers need to get their heads down and focus on their attacking play, because that will ultimately be their downfall at the end of the season if they fail to do so.
