West Ham United defender Amber Tysiak believes that the team will continue to grow as the new season goes on.
More than half of the players contracted to the East London club are aged 23 or under while The Hammers have new management again this season with Rehanne Skinner having been appointed as the successor for Paul Konchesky.
Many expect West Ham United to experience a challenging season but defender Tysiak believes that the team will keep growing with every game.
“We lost a few good players (over the summer) but we have a lot of potential,” Tysiak said. “We are, I think, quite a young team but we are learning every week during pre-season, you can see every game that we grow on the field, off the field.
“We want to be more in possession because the new manager [Rehanne Skinner], she wants to play football. We love to play football and feel confident and creative, you want to be on the ball. That’s something that’s a big difference from last year because then we were more of a counter team and now we want the ball.
“I think we will grow every week during the season. I don’t think any game will be easy for us but we have a great team and I am looking forward to it.”
Under former boss Konchesky, West Ham United were often solid and organised behind the ball and had to hit teams on the counter attack. As a result, they sometimes struggled to score goals. New boss Skinner has brought a fresh style of play and Tysiak believes that the transition is going well.
She said “It’s a huge difference because when you play as a counter team, you have to work hard, you have to get on the ball and just play forward. We spent time playing some long balls and now you have to show your feet.
“Rehanne said that you have to really want the ball, you have to be confident and she gives us a lot of confidence. She prefers to see you make a mistake on the ball than just not showing your feet.
“I think we are confident and really ready, we are at this moment. I think in every game, we see that we are more a possession team. Yeah, it’s like a mentality switch but I think it’s going very well.”
West Ham United kick-off the new season with a home fixture against Manchester City at The Chigwell Construction Stadium next Sunday.
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