Under-fire West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has been defended by struggling Hammers star Jose Fonte following the defeat at home to Leicester City in the Premier League at the weekend.
The 3-2 defeat to the Foxes means Bilic’s men are without a win in five top flight outings. And fans were critical of the manager and his team after seeing them go 2-0 down after just seven minutes at the London Stadium and failing to turn things around.
But Fonte, who hasn’t enjoyed the best form of his career since his January switch from Southampton, says Bilic is the right man for the job, and he pledged to help turn things around.
He said: “I can only say good things about the manager. He’s a great man and a great coach, he’s working really hard and we’re trying really hard, so we can only put it right We’ll do everything we can to get some wins to please the fans, because they deserve it as well. The fans have come and support us in every single game and we want to win for them as well.”
Fonte, who won the Euros with Portugal last summer, admits the rearguard must do more to stop leaking goals; the Hammers have let in 18 goals in the last seven matches.
And Fonte added: “I want clean sheets, obviously, as I’m a defender. That’s why I came here, to help, and that’s why I’m disappointed for everyone, but there is only one way in my mind to put it right, and that is to keep working hard. Better days will come and I’m working hard to help the manager and help the team to end this run.”
He went on to say that he is desperate to be successful in West Ham colours and that’s where his focus is; and that the only one way to put it right is to “work harder”.
He added: “It hasn’t been easy, it hasn’t been the perfect start, obviously, but I’m strong enough, I’m not scared and there’s no problem because I’ll keep working hard as that’s the only way to be successful. I’ll go back and I’ll train as hard as I can and I’ll try and improve in every single thing and help the team. That’s the only way I can do it.”