West Ham defender Issa Diop has suggested that he feels good at the club, but has admitted that he is unhappy with how many goals the side are conceding.
The £67,000-a-week Frenchman [Spotrac] has been in fine form in his first campaign in English, but the Hammers have the seventh worst defensive record in the Premier League and have kept just one clean sheet since their 1-0 win over Arsenal in mid-December.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Diop said: “I feel good. I played a lot of games so I am happy but I think I can play better so I need to improve again. The West Ham fans have not seen the best of me yet. I know I can do better so I hope I can do better in the future.
“As a team, I think we can finish seventh. We started the season badly, but we’ve recovered our position and I hope we’re going to finish seventh.
“We score a lot of goals, but we also concede a lot of goals which, as a defender, I am not happy about. I would rather we kept a clean sheet every game!”
OPINION
It’s great to hear Diop talk like this. He clearly believes that he has a whole lot more to give, and that will have West Ham fans absolutely delighted. The young Frenchman has already been a standout performer during his spell in England, but rather than just settling for the plaudits that he has already been given, he is pushing on and looking to take his game to the next level. The truth is that the Hammers have been underwhelming in defence at times this season, but that has rarely been down to Diop, and prior to his injury, Fabian Balbuena looked as if he could be the ideal partner for the 22-year-old. The Paraguayan is getting back to fitness now, and with the prospect of him returning to the lineup in the near future, the hope will be that a bit more solidity can be established at the heart of the Hammers’ defence.
