West Ham captain Kurt Zouma has demanded more from the whole squad but believes that their recent form is “not a crisis”.

When it was first announced that Kurt Zouma was going to take the captain’s armband following the departure of Declan Rice, it left many confused over the decision. While he is an extremely popular figure in the dressing room, he seems to lack the leadership skills that the Hammer’s recent captains have had.

However, his deep connection with his teammates is going to be crucial in guiding the Irons out of their winless start to 2024 and he is confident that they can turn things around. “We are ready to go,” Zouma exclaimed when speaking to the official site. “We know we’re in a bad period but we know how football is. When you have some bad moments, you have to stick together as a team and as a family, so we’ll do that and hopefully we can turn things around pretty quick, because we need a result and we need the points as well.”

“It’s not a crisis, but a bad moment, so hopefully we can turn things around and get back to where we were before Christmas.”

According to the Frenchman, he may seem quiet on the pitch but that’s because he prefers to do things in his own way. “I captain my way and I don’t talk a lot outside,” he explained. “We have an experienced group and everyone talks to each other and we know what we’ve done wrong and what we can improve. The reality is we’re all tight and moving in the same way and we want to provide for everyone.”

“You don’t need to shout to be a leader. We are not kids any more, we are grown-ups and we all understand what we’ve done wrong and we know we need to pull together and do better. Nobody wants to lose. Everyone wants to score, to win and to have fun, but it is what it is. You have to accept sometimes that it doesn’t go your way and, as a group, it hasn’t been the best of West Ham since the beginning of the year, but hopefully we’ll get back to what we really are and show the qualities we have in the dressing room.”

Having as much experience as he does, the defender is able to recognise how important the Brentford game is in changing the atmosphere of the whole club. “If we win this one, the confidence will be much higher and that’s what we’re all looking for,” he concluded. “We know we’re going through a bad moment, but we all need to be together and have the fans behind us to help us get the wins.”