HAMMERS’ FANTASTIC FOUR SPARK NEW HOPE
THE caller on BBC 5 Live’s 606 phone-in who said West Ham can finish in the top four of the Premier League was perhaps a tad fanciful, but it isn’t so daft to suggest Manuel Pellegrini’s side can qualify for next season’s Europa League. OK, it’s only two wins from four, with this one coming against a Norwich side seemingly incapable of stopping fast counter-attacks — and who have now conceded 10 goals — but this West Ham side appear to have something different to those of previous seasons. In Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko and Sebastien Haller, they have an attack that is creative, aggressive and potent. It isn’t one-dimensional, either. Anderson’s direct runs pin back defences and unsettle full backs, as young Max Aarons found here. Lanzini’s creative edge is what sets him apart. He was involved in more chances on goal than any other player on Saturday. Yarmolenko’s anticipation as an inside forward is the reason he scored West Ham’s second: an instinctive volley seconds after his first effort had cannoned off a post. Then there’s Haller. Three goals in three Premier League matches. He has the aggressive nature of a poacher. The Frenchman accelerated sharply to get ahead of Ben Godfrey and barged him fairly out of the way to make sure he was on the end of Arthur Masuaku’s cross. All four have arrived in a recruitment drive that captain Mark Noble believes shows how much more intelligent West Ham have become as a club. ‘We needed to move on from bringing in players who were here to live in London and get a bit of a payday. We need young, enthusiastic players who want to be here for a long time,’ said Noble. ‘In the last two games, we have played extremely well, especially going forward. We should have scored six or seven against Norwich.’ And all this without Javier Hernandez, who was last night finalising a move to Sevilla — another sign the club are making more of the right calls.