West Ham: Adrian says win over Arsenal shows what club can achieve during Slaven Bilic era

West Ham United goalkeeper believes his team sent a statement of intent as to what to expect during Slaven Bilic's reign at the club after responding to Europa League disappointment with a 2-0 win away to Arsenal.

"Last year we qualified for the Europa League by a rebound [referring to the Fair Play League] but this year will be different," he told IBTimes UK after the win at the Emirates Stadium.

"The team has a different mentality; the new signings bring a lot to the team. We have proved this against Arsenal. We have a squad enough powerful be in the top 10 of the Premier League and maybe qualify for Europe directly.

"It would be nice to finish our last season at Upton Park with the qualification to Europe to open the Olympic Stadium in the best possible way."

Bilic's era at the Hammers got off to a sticky start as the team were kicked out of the Europa League by Romania's Astra Giurgiu.

Adrian, however, believes that the new manager will bring joy to the club, replacing former gaffer Sam Allardyce's defensive style with a more fan-friendly passing game.

"We have showed against Arsenal that we are a solid team in defence but with a lot of possibilities up front," the Spaniard noted.

"We have played one-on-one against a big team, knowing that they are dangerous upfront and taking our chances upfront.

"The team were very compact in defence but when we had the ball we played really well, we have proved that we are able to play a nice football too."

"Bilic has his ideas very clear. The mentality is different. We try to shape the game from the back, creating many chances, keeping the possession. The team has adapted quickly to his methods and he has also adapted to the team. What we did at the Emirates is what we want to do in the rest of the season.

"This is a dream start to the season. Getting three points in a derby, against a big club like Arsenal, at the Emirates, with our supporters backing us up and securing a clean sheet against such a good attack. It was great."

Bilic gambled by selecting fringe of players in the Europa League game against Astra Giurgiu in order to focus in the Premier League opener.

The victory over the Gunners may vindicate his decision at some point but Adrian admits the elimination from the European competition has been a blow.

"The victory against Arsenal is important but it does not compensate for our European elimination at all because we had big hopes for that," Adrian explained.

On the performance of 16-year-old league debutant Reece Oxford, he added: "It is unbelievable. When I was 16 I was in the Real Betis youth ranks and could not imagine being a professional.

"Oxford played great. I congratulated him after the game because it is not easy to deal with the pressure at that age in a place like this. He has a great talent, I can see during the training sessions and should he manage to follow this path he is going to be a hell of a player."