Sunday 4 November 2018

Happy Days Ahead As Hammers Adopt the Pelle Way


It's been growing and growing - after a dreadful start, Manuel Pellegrini's side are finally adapting to his system and what a pleasure it is to watch. Our last home tussle with Burnley was an unpleasant affair as we imploded on and off the pitch. Yesterday may well have been partly the result of fan's expressing their feelings so forcefully, but either way we are a different club now.

Yesterday we were treated to a proper game of footy, with the Hammers dominating with flowing and positive football. Even without Noble, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Reid and Carroll, we won easily and were in no way flattered by the 4-2 scoreline. With 63% possession, 80% pass accuracy and 20 shots, 10 on target - there is no way we could have put on a performance like that under Allardyce or Moyes (ED: or Bilic, tbh).  

Up front, Anderson had his best outing yet and with good options out wide (Snoddy, Diangana, Yarmo, Antonio) we can afford to have a wide player who is a bit inconsistent. Diangana reminds me of Kylian Mbappe with his almost unmarkable performance that should have delivered a penalty as well as a sending off. The lad has mayhem making ability in bucketloads. As always, Arnie brings belief and 100% commitment. I will say it again - what were Stoke doing playing him out wide?  It was also good to see Chicharito taking his chance with a cool finish just when we looked capable of throwing away a well deserved win.

As we push towards mid table, it's time to look to where we are heading - between now and the 2nd January we have ten Premiership games, 8 of which are against bottom half clubs, with Man City and high flying Watford visiting the vibrant fortress that the London Stadium is becoming.  Who knows where this will bring us to, but we will be really hoping to be safely nestled in the top half of the table come 2019!

After the Summer, we were disappointed to miss out on Portuguese midfield dynamo William Carvalho, but with the rise of Declan Rice is anybody still wishing that we had persuaded the reluctant Carvalho to join us? Similarly, many of us were worried about the departure of Ginge Collins, but after a rather harsh introduction to Premiership life at Anfield, Diop and Balbuena have been excellent. Yesterday, we shipped two soft goals which shows there is still room for improvement but in all honesty Winston Reid will have a real job getting game time when he returns! 

Finally, on this positive weekend - perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Pellegrini era is his confidence in playing youngsters. Grady Diangana has added to the Declan Rice feel good factor and you get the sense that Pelle isn't done yet! If you were a young talent looking to break through the ranks, West Ham is a club that you can believe in to give you a chance to show what you are capable of. 

Happy days!

COYI!!! 


 

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