After a shaky start to the Premier League season, West Ham fans are able to breathe a little easier now after finally getting some much-needed points on the board. Not only where they a necessity for the team, but they were also required if the current manager was to stay in employment.
The man in question is Manuel Pellegrini and after four fixtures had passed by, he had yet to earn a single point while in charge of his new club. A record that had some whispering that a fifth straight defeat could well see the former Manchester City manager given the sack.
However, a win away to Everton on the fifth weekend has ignited the East Londoners campaign and this is something that was further solidified after a pair of positive results that followed. First a hard fought draw at home to Chelsea saw the Hammers momentum continue as they moved up the table and away from the relegation zone.
But the highlight of the season so far was certainly there 3-1 win over Manchester United at the London Stadium, in fixtures such as that were a so called ‘big team’ suffers a defeat the feeling is that they must have had an off day for a result of this kind to have happened.
However, that would be doing West Ham a disservice as to a man they outfought and outclassed Jose Mourinho’s men and were excellent value for the maximum points that they won in front of their own fans.
The Hammers ‘fans have retrieved the faith; and most of them started to bet again on the team those lasts weeks. Using a bingo code or other insurance, most of them even made a few profits thanks to those recent results of the team.
The mood of those fans would have been slightly tempered after suffering defeat to Brighton before the international break, but with 7 points from the last 12 that were available it does show that West Ham’s season is finally under way.
The question now is just exactly they can do come the end of it, finishing in the top half is a realistic possibility although capturing a European place via a highly ranked league placing may just be out of reach for them.
However, it could well be that success in a Cup competition provides them with a route into European football next season. They are paired with Tottenham in the next round of the Carabao Cup and they will fancy their chances of progression to the Quarter-finals.
Not only are they at home for this tie, but they will be able to take full advantage of the fact that Tottenham will be in the midst of a very congested fixture schedule.
Something that perhaps lends itself to a weakened starting eleven for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
If that is the case and West Ham can take full advantage then they will then find themselves in the last eight of the competition and although there will still likely be some big names left in the hat, they will have reason to dream of a trip to Wembley in 2019.
There was much promise for West Ham at the start of the season, something that perhaps got lost along the way in the opening weeks. That said, it is clear that the wheels are finally in motion and the Hammers’ bubble is nowhere near bursting yet.
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