A Quote by Demba Ba
At West Ham there were a couple of French players and they helped me get used to the team and the club.
Related Quotes
When I was a player, you only left the club if they wanted to get rid of you. That was your team - if you were at West Ham, you didn't leave until the manager wanted to replace you. You didn't think about playing for Arsenal or Chelsea.
When I left Liverpool, my aim was to get into the top six, and I was looking for a team that could get involved at that level. West Ham were brilliant at the time. They'd signed a lot of players, had a lot of money. But they've had problems since then.
And at West Ham no one gives you a puzzled look if you get called up for your national team and players are never asked to play on injections.
If I was a normal player at West Ham and wanted to join a Chinese club, nobody would have said anything. But since I was a leader at West Ham and thought about that offer, I was suddenly a bad man.
I actually had the chance to sign for Newcastle before I went to West Ham; I didn't in the end because they had got rid of their reserve team. There were a few clubs interested but I liked what West Ham had to offer and never regretted signing for them, I loved it straight away.
My family have always been West Ham fans, so growing up, I used to go and watch them, and so I was a West Ham supporter.
I think that with West Ham, it was more complicated for me. It happened naturally; there was urgency to leave West Ham.
But what a club West Ham are, such a big club, the supporters are fantastic.
Vitesse was my hometown club. They helped me in my career. It was Vitesse who helped me get in to the national team squad in the first place, even if I didn't make the World Cup.
I struggled to get into any sort of team as a kid, but I struggled along and, though it's amazing how long it has actually taken me, I am finally in the Premiership and to play against my old mates from West Ham, the team I supported as a boy, was unbelievable.
I had a slow start at West Ham, that's right. I came here and expectations were high because the fans were not quite happy with it. But as football players we have to deal with the pressure.
At West Ham I had a fantastic relationship with the board but I was really upset with them when they sold the club without telling me. I then had new owners I didn't get on particularly well with.
I was very tired when I left West Ham, but that's my character really. I gave everything. It can be bad, that, because you need to be at your best when you manage a football team. The players take it on board and see how you are.
West Ham is a massive club and I want to do well. I want to create the same sort of feeling I've had at every other club.
You cannot compare the way someone plays for a club and for a national team. At a club, you spend every day with the same players. In a national team, you are with your team-mates for only a few days.
The plan was that I was going to retire and take a job with the American Federation, but Nottingham Forest offered me a contract and there was interest from West Ham and another Premiership club.
Related Authors
Carson Palmer Quotes
American
Footballer
Charles Woodson Quotes
American
Footballer
Cristiano Ronaldo Quotes
Portuguese
Footballer
David Beckham Quotes
English
Footballer
David Icke Quotes
English
Footballer
Gary Lineker Quotes
English
Footballer
Howie Long Quotes
American
Footballer
LeSean McCoy Quotes
American
Footballer
Pedro Quotes
Spanish
Footballer
Ray Lewis Quotes
American
Footballer
Stanley A. McChrystal Quotes
American
Footballer
Terrell Suggs Quotes
American
Footballer
Tobin Heath Quotes
American
Footballer
Tom Brady Quotes
American
Footballer
Wes Fesler Quotes
American
Footballer