Reid: West Ham’s new arrivals have made the difference

The departure of Dimitri Payet appears to have coincided with an about turn in West Ham’s form this season but Winston Reid prefers to give credit to their new arrivals.

Robert Snodgrass and Jose Fonte arrived in January and the Hammers have won six of their last ten Premier League games to climb into the top half of the table.

Payet departed for Marseille after a protracted transfer saga but Reid insists confidence within the squad has made all the difference.

“I think getting a couple of new players in has freshened things up and everyone is on the same page,” he explained.

“I don’t want to pinpoint the whole situation on Dimi, because I think that would be unfair. He had his own issue which he had to deal with in his own way, which he did, and we’re past that now. He’s happy and we’re happy as well, so we’ll just move forward and do our best.

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“Obviously it takes time to build up an understanding but it’s improving with every game. Jose (Fonte) and Snoddy (Snodgrass) have fitted into the group really well, and that’s also important, that we’ve signed not only good footballers, but good people as well who fit within the group.

“We started the season bang average but, to be fair, we’ve been playing all right for a while now.

“It’s been a combination of things. We’ve had a few people coming back from injuries, people getting up to match-fitness and people in form. When you win games, you get more confidence, and we’ve been winning games, so everyone is happier around the place and that shows out on the pitch.”