Hammers have done remarkably well, last season and so far this season, the bedrock of Hammers surprising surge to becoming a genuine top six club has been the club's stoic defence, as well as it's astonishing counter attacking prowess.
Playing in one of Europe’s top two continental competitions is a tremendous honour, with West Ham United making their way into the Europa League by virtue of their sixth place finish last season.
Over 580 days in the waiting and a whole world of events had been and gone ahead of last night's game against Leicester City, while fans had been absent David Moyes and his staff oversaw the metamorphosis of a team of relegation battlers into a slick top six of the table club.
West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Souček, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio Subs: Areola (GK), Fredericks, Johnson, Baptiste, Diop, Coventry, Lanzini, Noble, Yarmolenko
Leicester: Schmeichel; Ricardo, Vestergaard, Soyuncu, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans; Perez, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.
As we have previously written, there seems to be some extraordinary coincidences involving other clubs when West Ham show interest in acquiring a player, whether this is because since David Moyes' arrival at the club the transfer strategy has shifted seismically or not is a matter of debate.
It may seem a little more than co-incidence to some Hammers fans when they see 'one of their own' come out in the media in support of an aggressive take over bid for the club they 'love', the fact that said person has just lost their job with a major sports platform after nearly 20 years can't have anything to do with it can it?
Expect organised chaos if you are attending the London 'Dome' tomorrow, Judging by how other London clubs have coped with the additional resources required to check fan's Covid vaccine status and /or lateral flow testing, it is going to be a long hard slog to get through the entry 'pinch points'.
Hmm, the mischief makers can't resist a free hit at West Ham's expense, by opening up the 'Declan Rice unhappy' story, yet again. 'Declan Rice is ready to run down his West Ham contract amid interest from Man Utd as the midfielder feels his £100 price tag has prevented him from securing a move away, the 22-year-old feels as though his £100m valuation has priced him out of a move away and is now ready to run down his current deal', reports the Telegraph.
Working in London does at times feels like it drags a little bit with the exorbitant costs of virtually everything, the endless tube journeys, bus rides sat in hectic yet stationary traffic, and living in a city together with such a sheer mass of people despite its numerous beautiful green parks and nature reserves.
Most Hammers fans view media 'observations' like "a snip at £24 Million" with a certain degree of sardonic humour, during the Pellegrini era such sums seemed a mere Bagatelle for him and his brown envelope loving head of recruitment Husillos. Unfortunately the club is now in the middle of paying for those excesses and questionable fees incurred during their profligacy, at the worst possible time due to the fiscal fall out from the Covid Pandemic.