Manuel Pellegrini picked up his first points as West Ham manager at Goodison Park on Sunday.
After four Premier League losses, West Ham got off the mark with a 3-1 win over Everton. This lifted them out of the relegation zone.
West Ham’s main criticism this season has been their lack of team spirit. With nine new first-team signings, it has been tough for them to gel.
But Pellegrini changed his formation to 4-3-3 and fielded an XI which had an interesting mixture. This paid dividends and here is why it is an indication that success could be on its way.
International XI
West Ham’s weekend side consisted of 11 different nationalities.
Lukasz Fabianski (Poland) was in goal behind a defence consisting of Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina), Issa Diop (France), Fabian Balbuena (Paraguay) and Arthur Masuaku (France).
Then, the midfield trio were Declan Rice (Ireland), Mark Noble (England) and Pedro Obiang (Spain).
Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine) started on the right with Felipe Anderson (Brazil) on the left. Meanwhile, Marko Arnautovic (Austria) played up front.
Later, Carlos Sanchez (Colombia) and Robert Snodgrass (Scotland) added two more nationalities to the mix.
New signings bedding in
This victory was a clear sign that things are starting to turn around. The new signings all had impressive games.
But it was the team spirit which was also worth illustrating. The players looked up for the fight and were playing for the badge for the first time this season.
Yarmolenko netted two spirit-boosting goals, Anderson was sensational in the second half and Fabianski was solid between the sticks.
And as each game goes by, Diop and Balbuena are growing more comfortable as the Hammers’ centre-half partnership.
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