West Ham have managed two consecutive 1-0 victories to propel themselves up the Premier League table at long, long last.
However, neither victory came easy and the Irons have not been convincing all season.
Nevertheless, a win’s a win, and West Ham have notched up two of them. In the process, they have kept two much needed clean sheets after leaking goals for much of the early part of the campaign.
The Hammers were one of the surprise packages last season, qualifying for a Europa League Play-Off spot.
Whilst they were defeated by their Romanian farmers challengers, a lot was still expected of the side due to the new stadium and the fact they kept Dimitri Payet on their books.
The classy Frenchman was a revelation in the Premier League last season.
Every time he gets the ball, you feel as if he is going to create something and they will need to get the best out of him to continue their ascent up the table.
Unfortunately, for every magical player the Hammers have, they also have someone under-performing.
Assuming that Ashley Fletcher might be loaned out in January (as has been suggested recently), the punters here at the Tavern think these THREE West Ham players will join him in leaving the London Stadium in January.
Diafra Sakho
In Sakho’s first season with the Hammers, he was scoring goals for fun and a lot was expected of the Senegalese.
However, 5 goals in 21 appearances last season saw him relegated to a squad role behind the attacking trio of Lanzini, Payet and Antonio.
Even Andy Carroll, who was injured for more than half of the season, almost scored double the amount of goals that Sakho managed.
The 26-year-old was very close to joining West Brom during the summer transfer window but a failed medical meant that the move failed to materialize.
He isn’t even making the Hammers bench at the moment and that might spell trouble.
It would be very surprising if he remains a West Ham player for much longer.
James Collins
Collins has been a consistent performer for the Hammers since rejoining from Aston Villa in 2012.
The Welshman had previously featured for West Ham between 2005-2009 before joining the Midlands club. A successful spell there inspired West Ham to re-sign him and he has been there since.
However, an awful start to the season has seen Collins dropped to the bench. They conceded 4 at home to Watford and away at West Brom but Collins’ omission from the team has seen two consecutive clean sheets.
The 33-year-old might be a good presence in the dressing room, but an extended spell on the bench might be good for the team.
Gokhan Tore
There’s every chance they could cancel his loan move in January.
As rash a move as that may be, the Turkish international has failed to wholly convince in wide areas, a position Slaven Bilic currently boasts quite a fair bit of strength in.
One of the few ex-Chelsea players in the Premier League not currently embarrassing his former employer’s infamous transfer policy.
