West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui was pleased to see his side put in a performance to be counted on Monday evening against Newcastle at St James Park.
The Hammers needed a bounce back result, after falling to 14th before the Newcastle game in a tough campaign for the east Londoners.
Lopetegui was impressed by his team’s execution of the game plan, saying to the Official website after the game that the personality of the performance was spot on.
“I think we showed lots of personality, and we did really well to overcome what is a tough occasion to come and play Newcastle at their own ground like this,” Lopetegui told the club’s official website.
Much of the issue this Premier League season has been the lack of application in game plans and tactics from the squad, and not playing with enough urgency and quality for large parts of the games.
But at St James Park on Monday evening, the squad not only worked hard without the ball, the identity of the team under the Spaniard started to show.
The 58-year old believes the team played for each other through the full 90 minutes.
“I said congratulations to all of the players because they all put in very good work.
“We had one identity today, and I think we did well with and without the ball. Above all we were a team, and we fought for each other, and that is what you need to compete on an occasion like today.”
Often teams struggle to gain confidence after an international break, especially when players come back from long haul trips to play for their country.
For Lopetegui, the international break seemed to have re energised his side and give them confidence heading into a busy December period.
“We tried to take advantage of the international break.
“Even though we had quite a few players away, we still worked on a number of things, and it paid off today. The most important thing is that we’ve managed to come away with three points against a very good team.
“It was important to win, but the way we played and fought as a team is what we can take the most going forward.”
