Four games into the season, it’s fair to say that things were not going well for West Ham United.
Those four games had seen the Hammers lose all four and sat rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
After investing heavily in the summer transfer window, spending in excess of £100 million, doubts were creeping in as to whether Manuel Pellegrini, appointed in the summer, was the right man for the job.
Now, four games later, albeit one of those being in the Carabao Cup, the picture has changed dramatically.
The Hammers have won three of those four games and drawn the other, ensuring their occupancy at the foot of the table was a fleeting one.
Instead of doubts emerging about the suitability of Pellegrini in the managerial position, the Chilean is now seen as the perfect appointment.
Yesterday, against Manchester United, the Hammers played some wonderful football as they put Jose Mourinho’s side to the sword.
After the game, naturally, after such a fine win, Pellegrini was a contented man, remarking to the media, and as reported by the BBC:
“We hope in the future to have a lot of these days. Today was the test we needed to prove we can play as a big team. Not just to get a result defending against United or City or Chelsea. We work every day. That, to me more, makes me happy.
“The result is obviously most important. Three weeks ago I talked exactly the same after we lost four games, that we are not going to change. People thought that was crazy but that was the way. The team is making a difference, the players delivered a big performance.”
Suddenly, that early season optimism that we all felt is slowly returning, now all we need is for West Ham to develop the consistency needed to climb the table and, possibly, edge towards the top eight.
Patience, a wonderful virtue but a trait that is so often missing when it comes to the pressure-cooker that is the Premier League where success has to be instant.
