The tension filled relationship between West Ham’s owners David Gold and David Sullivan and the fans of the club is actually legendary. Hate is a strong word that really shouldn’t be used but in this case it feels that the Hammers fans really have no time for the clubs owners.
In the past games have been stopped because fans have wanted answers as to how the club is being run. Managers have been sacked good players have been sold and the final straw seemed to be when the owners decided to move stadium.
The new stadium was used of course for the London Olympics and whilst it is double the capacity of the clubs old stadium the Boleyn Ground fans have complained that it lacks the intimate atmosphere. They would be right. On the other side though change is good and usually is something that is inevitable especially in football.
Fans were outraged once more when at the end of 2019 David Moyes was announced as the new manager. This is the same manager that the same club had sacked just over a year previously. Inevitably life started bad under Moyes and the fans seemed very justified in berating the board for making obvious mistakes.
But slowly and surely towards the end of the season and when the pandemic hit West Ham went on a good run and finished the season quite strong. And yet this season was seen as the one where the club would return to the Championship.
West Ham were toothless in their first game of the season losing 2-0 at home to Newcastle United. However since then the club have largely been flawless. They have climbed up to 4th in the league and after 20 games already have 35 points. As a reference point last season the club finished in 16th position with 39 points from 38 games.
Moyes has worked tirelessy behind the scenes to make things better on the pitch. The Scotsman was once known for digging in deep and resting on his laurels but this West Ham team attack and they have upset many teams along the way. They have beaten the likes of Wolves, Leicester, Chelsea and drew with Manchester City, the improvement has been significant and for now West Ham seem to be going in the right direction.
Now how does this sit with the demanding fans? Well they seem to have gone quiet at the same time it’s hard to know the real scope of fans’ thought without scouring online club forums with fans of course not allowed to attend matches. But it seems that Gold and Sullivan as controversial owners as they have been have made the right choice in appointing Moyes again. It should have gone predictably wrong for the Hammers, but hard work pays dividends and one can say this has been the case for the Londoners.
Below we will take a look at the best players this season for West Ham and right now the club look like having their best season in the top flight since the 1986 season when they finished in 3rd place.
Aaron Cresswell
Aaron Cresswell has amassed an impressive 34 points playing in defence and has helped to keep seven clean sheets. He isn’t his job to score goals and since he has zero we can’t complain on that front but he has assisted in 5 goals which is very impressive.
Michail Antonio
Michail Antonio seems to be getting better by age and is a real quality striker on his day. So far this season he has scored 5 goals from 12 games. He does have a tendency to get injured and miss periods of the season but he holds the ball up well and isn’t just used as an out and out striker.
Angelo Ogbonna
Ogbonna now has 29 points and has helped to keep seven clean sheets at home. For a defender he has done well too as he has scored twice this season and overall he has been one of West Ham’s most important players.
Pablo Fornals
Let’s be honest Pablo Fornals debut season with the club was underwhelming, and much was expected. But he is working hard behind the scenes and that seems to be paying off for this season. He has 24 points and his value is 7m. He has been involved in 4 goals this season.
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