Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham's Demba Ba doesn't feel pressure to stay up
Sitting next to him at the club's training ground, it was not difficult to see why Demba Ba has been heralded as the man who can save West Ham from relegation. [LNB]At 6ft 3in and built like a tank, the Paris-born Senegalese striker has the physical attributes to deal with the bruising nature of Barclays Premier League football. [LNB]Avram Grant has likened Ba to Didier Drogba. He is strong, powerful and quick with a knack of hitting the back of the net. Two goals on his first West Ham start against West Bromwich Albion earlier this month backed up the manager's claims. [LNB] Style and substance: Ba has impressed at Upton Park with his strength and pace[LNB]'Am I the new Didier Drogba? No. I'm Demba Ba!' he says. 'I'm not somebody else. I have so much respect for Drogba. For me he is like an idol. I love Drogba, I love the way he is on the pitch. It was the same with Thierry Henry at Arsenal. [LNB]'But I'm not looking at them when I'm playing, I just want to be Demba Ba - nobody else.' [LNB]Confident words for someone who is three games into his career in England. But speaking to the 25-year-old, you sense that he always knew the Premier League was his destiny. [LNB]To say he was relaxed is an understatement. Dressed in trendy jeans and a chunky knitted jumper, you would not have known Ba was the man Hammers fans were pinning their survival hopes on. [LNB]But once you discover the struggles behind his quest to make the grade as a professional, you understand why maybe, just maybe, West Ham have found a striker with the bottle to drag them out of trouble. [LNB]The sinking feeling of rejection was something Ba had become accustomed to as a teenager. He was told 'Thanks, but no thanks' after trials with Watford, Barnsley, Swansea, Lyon and Auxerre. [LNB] Demba not Didier: Ba celebrates a goal for the Hammers[LNB]He finally got his big break with French fourth division side FC Rouen, where 22 goals in 26 games earned him a move to Belgian side Mouscron before German club Hoffenheim paid €2.75million (?1.26m) for him in 2007. [LNB]'If there is pressure on me to keep West Ham up then I don't feel it because at the end of the day, football is a game,' explains Ba. 'There are far worse things in life than fighting relegation. There was more pressure on me when I was looking for a club. [LNB]'I didn't know where my life was going, that was real pressure. I've had so many trials in the past that didn't work out but I still wanted to make it as a footballer. [LNB]'I was between 16 and 19 at the time, but for me it wasn't tough. Many people maybe couldn't handle it but if you want something you have to go and get it. [LNB]'I don't fear rejection, I know what I'm able to do and knew if I didn't fight, I wouldn't make it. People were not going to give it to me for free.' [LNB]But Ba's dream of Premier League football so nearly did not happen. Hoffenheim's refusal to sanction his departure in January led to him going on strike to force through a move. [LNB]Enlarge It worked and he insists he has no regrets, saying: 'People don't know what happened in January. All I can say is I made my choice that I wanted to go. I had the chance to come to England but again it was difficult. When people don't give you respect, why should you still work with them?'[LNB] Instead of playing against Liverpool on Sunday, Ba could easily have been lining up for Stoke against West Bromwich a day later. [LNB]Playing for Mouscron against SV Roeselare in 2006, Ba turned sharply and injured his left knee, leaving him with a problem that has plagued his career. [LNB]He missed the end of last season with Hoffenheim when the injury flared up and a ?7.1m move to Stoke collapsed last month after a medical flagged up the problem. [LNB]Sportsmail understands West Ham only agreed to sign Ba after structuring a deal that will see the Hammers pay Hoffenheim based on the number of games he plays. The very mention of a problematic knee was the trigger for Ba, just for a moment, to depart from his cool exterior. [LNB]He insisted: 'I don't know why we are still talking about it. The knee is fine. I had surgery and the rehab didn't go as well as it should. So it's completely normal the knee isn't 100 per cent. But I can play football, I know how to manage it.' [LNB]But now he has fulfilled his Premier League dream could he stick it out with the Hammers in the Championship? His answer was far from convincing. [LNB]'We have to look at the next couple of weeks before looking at the next couple of years,' he said. 'I'm not thinking about relegation. I'm only thinking about winning games.' Jamie Redknapp: How I was nailed by the Hammer! Hitzlsperger, West Ham's new enforcerWest Ham threaten to sue the FA over Ashton compensation claimKeane speeds up West Ham comeback in ice chamber... with Frank BrunoAll the latest West Ham news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Didier Drogba, Thierry Henry Places: Paris, Lyon, Liverpool, United Kingdom
