West Ham United centre-back Angelo Ogbonna believes that the new midfield partnership of Declan Rice and Lucas Paqueta can be key to getting the Hammers back on track.
For the first time this season in the Premier League, on Friday night, Hammers manager David Moyes opted to play captain Declan Rice and summer signing Lucas Paqueta in a midfielder partnership for the 2-0 defeat to Brentford.
That saw Czech Republic international Tomas Soucek dropped for the first time this season in the league and despite the defeat, the experienced Italian saw promising signs and think they can be the difference ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Leeds United.
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“I see a lot of changes, from new players and senior players, and now we have the second half of the season and everyone is starting to take responsibility,” Ogbonna told the club website .
“Against Brentford, we gave something. I know some of the fans booed, but I think we showed we can play well. Dec and Lucas showed they can play really well together in the middle of the park, but on the night the details were really important.
“We lost because of details against a team who thrive on details and I am doubly disappointed because we conceded the same goal we conceded to them last season. Things like that really hurt me, but I think there were positive things from the game.”
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