DANCING KING
Vaz Te has Hammers back in the groove
WEST HAM ended their home jinx with a 6-0 win over Brighton on Saturday and one man stood out. Here are Sportsmail’s pass notes on hat-trick hero Ricardo Vaz Te. Ricardo Vaz Te is the form player in the Championship. He sure is. Eight goals in his last five games and 20 for the season. So he must have cost a few bob. Only £500,000 from Barnsley in January. Has he any previous? Not really. One goal in 10 for Hibs and there was his one goal in six months at Panionios in Greece. He did play for Sam Allardyce at Bolton. So is that where he showed his prolific skill in front of goal? Er, no. Three goals in 58 league games. So he’s not really a goalscoring striker? He’s a wide attacker, but his five goals in the last two games have come with him playing more centrally. This is the best goalscoring form of his career. Why has he not made a bigger impact before? Aged 25, he’s 6ft 2in, strong in the air, quick and tricky on the ground. But he is, as they say, a confidence player. Right now, he is confident. Where did he come from? He’s Portuguese and Big Sam signed him from Farense, where he was a team-mate of Nani, aged 16. Like Nani, he has lots of tricks. The end product hasn’t always been glorious, but Allardyce has always believed in his potential. And what about this goal celebration? It would not look out of place in the Lion King theatre production, with an extravagant dance that resembles a big cat cleaning itself after devouring its prey. Can he put West Ham in the top two? Unlikely. But at least West Ham’s strikers have started scoring again. And just in time for the play-offs...