- West Ham beat Everton 2-1 on Saturday
- Konstantinos Mavropanos has formed a defensive partnership with Axel Disasi
- The Hammers face Brentford this Saturday
Since the end of January, West Ham United have looked a completely different team. The Hammers looked doomed heading into 2026, but now are in control of their Premier League destiny and are one of the form team’s in the division.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side continued their form as they beat Everton 2-1 on Saturday. A key reason of West Ham‘s upturn has been the defence and the form of Konstantinos Mavropanos and January signing, Axel Disasi.
Mavropanos, speaking to Irons Cast, has opened up about his partnership with Disasi and how the pair just understand each other.
“I think both of us, from the first game we played together at Burnley, really we understand each other a little bit better, and we just tried to build on this understanding and trust in each other and this helped us a lot,” Mavropanos said.
“As I said before, I think the whole team has been improving so much defensively, so this helps us a lot as centre-backs to give a little bit more power from the back and push the others as well.
“I’m really glad that we are in good momentum and the other guys help a lot, J-C [Todibo] and Max [Kilman]. They are always fighting for their places as well, so this is good, healthy competition that improves every single one of us and the team as well.”
Basics the game changer for West Ham defensively
Mavropanos noted that West Ham have become so much better at defending set pieces in the second-half of the season. According to the Greece international it is all about doing the basics well and being organised.
“We have been working so hard in every aspect of the game and set pieces was one of the most important parts of the game since the beginning of the season when we had some problems,” he continued.
“We worked on that as well and now it seems like we are a really strong side defensively and offensively from the set pieces, so it’s all about hard work and just being always there and ready to jump for every ball.”
It’s not just at the back end of the pitch where Mavropanos and the Hammers have improved. At the other end, West Ham have got a knack of scoring from their own set pieces, with the 28-year-old netting quite a few goals from them.
“Nuno puts a lot of emphasis on this, especially on set pieces, because it’s a moment that can change the game and is really important,” he revealed. “Since he arrived he paid a lot of attention to that because, as I said, in the first half of the season we had quite a big problem on set pieces, so it was one of the main factors that we had to change and improve. I think it’s gone good.
“To be honest, I love heading the ball, too! I really think now I understand better the players who take the set pieces. It’s a little bit of timing and feeling and I just try to go to every single ball, so it’s a mix of everything.”
