West Ham United striker Sebastien Haller believes his team’s thumping 4-0 win over Bournemouth was a product of the collective endeavour of the team.
The Hammers went into the New Year’s Day fixture – new manager David Moyes’ first in charge – on the back of a challenging festive period in the Premier League.
In a stylish display of flowing football, however, the Hammers ran riot, a brace from captain Mark Noble falling either side of a spectacular Haller bicycle kick to rack up an unassailable lead after just 35 played.
Felipe Anderson’s second-half individual effort added deserved gloss to a scoreline which Haller feels was just desserts for his side’s determination to put things right as a team.
It’s up to us to give what we have to give on the pitch. Today we tried hard to make the effort together, and today we got the rewards from this work
Sebastien Haller
“We knew today that we are all in this situation together, so this is our task [as a squad] - and the new manager knows it also,” Haller observed.
“He can speak to us, he can make every tactic possible, but it’s up to us to give what we have to give on the pitch. Today we tried hard to make the effort together, and today we got the rewards for this work: we were lucky [enough] to score four goals.
“For myself it [the goal] was just the best thing I could have hoped for this New Year. We know that we need some points to get out of this situation, and if I can score goals like that and help the team to win [in the process], that’s the best thing I can do.”
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Haller’s brilliant acrobatic effort to convert Fredericks’ cross was the Frenchman’s sixth Premier League goal of the season, arriving a fortnight after his vital winner at Southampton.
The summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt admitted that, while not everything has gone his way in the initial months since his record transfer, he appreciates both the guidance he has received from Moyes in his first few days and the faith he has enjoyed from the supporters.
“[It was] not a long conversation because we’ve not had much time to prepare, but he’s spoken to me quite a few times, just explaining to me what he wants,” Haller said of his new manager.
"A lot of things have happened so I won’t lie, [my first few months] were not easy, but that’s life. That’s the life of a football player, so today was nice – now I’m just happy to help the team today.
“I’m trying to get the support that we want when we represent West Ham. We are like a big family with the supporters also, so we just need to support each other and make this Club bigger.”
