West Ham United are flying high this season and playing exciting, attacking and at times dominant football.
Manuel Pellegrini has worked wonders in East London since he was appointed last year.
The Chilean has given the Hammers an identity again and a style of play which befits West Ham’s traditions.
The poisonous atmosphere that had engulfed the club in March 2018 is a distant memory.
West Ham boast the best home record outside the top six since Pellegrini’s arrival.
West Ham quietly becoming a force
And they have been quietly closing the gap on the top six. West Ham have won 49 points from their last 31 Premier League games under Pellegrini.
That is the best record outside the top six over the same period and just three points less than Tottenham in the same period.
Yet West Ham are still struggling to be taken seriously by some factions of the media and rivals fans.
In the wake of the recent comfortable 2-0 win over Manchester United, West Ham fans were left fuming as the likes of Sky Sports failed to give Pellegrini’s side credit, focusing instead on the failings of the Red Devils.
Neville and co becoming tiresome bores
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, slowly boring fans half to death with their incessant Manchester United and Liverpool patter, embodied the dismissive attitude many pundits have towards West Ham.
A look at West Ham forums, social media and a listen to radio phone-ins reveals a West Ham fanbase which feels their club is not being taken seriously.
Even when Pellegrini’s side rose to third over the weekend – now fifth and level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal – their chances of European football were scoffed at by some.
But the Hammers faithful must get over their complex when it comes to media bias.
Fans must embrace bias, let’s fly under the radar
If anything they should welcome it.
It will be in West Ham’s interests to fly under the radar.
The more people and teams that underestimate the Hammers, the better.
Injuries may yet put a spanner in the works. After all the shocking 4-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Oxford proved Pellegrini’s squad is not blessed with any real strength in depth.
Let’s embrace the the fact the “big six” obsessed media keep writing us off. And let’s use it as fuel to prove a few people wrong.
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