Despite arriving on a free transfer with some sort of star status from Valencia, Sofiane Feghouli still hasn’t really been given the chance to shine by West Ham.
Whether that is a tactical decision from Slaven Bilic, or just that he feels the winger isn’t quite ready physically to have an impact, remains a mystery, but judging by the latest interview the player gave to the French media, he’s still enjoying himself.
Speaking to So Foot about his past problems with Valencia and the Algeria national team, the player was asked about the differences between football elsewhere and in England.
Explaining the whole atmosphere at the club was more ‘chilled’, with less rules, Feghouli also made it clear that while that may be the case off it, on match day, you need to be 100% as ‘the most important is what happens on the pitch’.
Of course, having played with him during his time with the France youth setup, the winger was asked about Dimitri Payet, West Ham’s go to man since his arrival from Ligue 1 in 2015.
He said: “He always had something that others didn’t. At Marseille, with Bielsa, he showed that he was a top player. In England, he confirmed that. A Premier League game isn’t necessarily structured, so if you have a player like Payet, it can hurt the opposition.
“West Ham are lucky. As a guy, he’s positive, he cheers people up. On what he has shown so far, including the Euros, he’s one of the best players in the world.”
The player also touched on his transfer to West Ham, and the reasons behind it.
“I was looking for a new challenge,” he said, “I could have honestly gone anywhere in the world, but I chose West Ham and I’m really happy. I immediately really liked London. The mentality is great, the people are open, respectful. It’s far less ‘tense’ than in Paris.”
Feghouli’s main promise to himself is to improve his English, which is currently ‘zero’, but he wants to learn it and make it one of his main languages.
Rest assured, he isn’t going anywhere soon.
