In the past six months, a lot has changed from West Ham United. Beginning the season under Graham Potter, things did not start well for the Hammers. Thrust into a relegation fight, Nuno Espirito Santo has been tasked with saving the club, with his efforts beginning to show in 2026.
The Irons began the year seven points from safety but now, following a 1-0 win over Fulham, are level on points with Nottingham Forest in 17th and on the more in-form sides in the Premier League.
A huge part of the turnaround has been the defensive unit. Mads Hermansen has been installed in-between the sticks, with January signing, Axel Disasi partnering either Konstantinos Mavropanos or Jean-Clair Todibo in central defence.
When speaking to the club’s official website, Mavropanos explained that the team’s hard work is finally showing, and their mental fortitude could be the reason they stay up this season:
“There were moments that we couldn’t show what we wanted, but I think the last couple of weeks we had some good results, and we showed what we are capable of,” said Mavropanos. “Now, what we have to do is just keep working and [continue to] do the best we can. We just have to keep doing the same thing, and hopefully we can be happy at the end of the season.
“The belief, first of all, has improved. We have a lot of quality as a team and individually, and we didn’t have the chance to show this on the level we wanted in games.
“But we’ve grown in belief, and that really gave us this feeling of what we can do and what we are capable of.
“There is always a pressure, and I know that this type of pressure is a bit different because we are in a battle of relegation at the moment, and it’s a really tough situation.
“But of course when you go on the pitch, you just want to enjoy football, especially when we are at home with our fans, and after that, just try to give the best for the team and get the best results we can get, as ultimately results will give us the points that we need to get out of this situation.
“I think these recent results will give us even more of a boost to the end of the season. The last couple of weeks have been really important to us because we got results, closed the gap, and are closer than we have been to the opponents that are above us.”
The Axel Disasi impact
Since joining on-loan from Chelsea, Disasi has been a revelation. The 27-year-old has featured in every single West Ham game since making the move to the London Stadium, with numerous teammates praising the defender, and Mavropanos is no exception.
“It had been a difficult period for him, but since he arrived, I think he’s shown how good a player he is and what he can bring to the team.
“He has helped our work defensively and has shown how strong he is. We are just happy to have him here and to work with him as well, and you can see from the last games that he’s played that he’s got a lot of big things.”
Moving forward
West Ham face Brentford in the FA Cup tonight, knowing that keeping their momentum going is the most important thing. Mavropanos is not only confident in a result, but also confident in his own performances going forward.
“I’m really happy [with my own performances] at the moment but, as always, I just try to improve, work hard and help the team. Especially in the last couple of weeks, the team has been building something,” the 28-year-old continued.
“You can see that we are more compact and are better both individually and together, and with the quality that we have, you can see how good we are. I’m just trying to keep going and keep giving the best.
“I think keeping a clean sheet makes us believe more in ourselves defensively, because obviously when you don’t concede a goal, you get some points.
“It’s important for us the defenders, especially, but for the whole team as well, and this is really important for the situation we are in right now.
“We need to keep the clean sheet at the back and get as many wins as we can, so we are really happy that in the last couple of games we’ve had the opportunity to keep a few clean sheets, and we just hope to keep doing that as many times as we can between now and the end of the season.”
