As long as West Ham United retain a core group of genuine game-changers – a group El Hadji Malick Diouf hopes to join – Premier League survival will always be a possibility.
What Burnley or even Leeds would do for a Lucas Paqueta or a Jarrod Bowen.
The less said about Wolves, who would probably bite your hand off right now to have Max Kilman back at Molineux, the better.
Of course, West Ham United know from experience that the phrase ‘too good to go down’ has plenty of pitfalls. Despite racking up 42 points in the 2002/03 season, and boasting such talent as Paolo di Canio, Trevor Sinclair, David James and Joe Cole, the Hammers still could not stave off the drop.
Finish the sentence: My favourite Paolo di Canio memory is… ?
But there is a reason why pundits such as former England midfielder Danny Murphy remain convinced that West Ham will not go down ‘in a million years’. Reasons such as the creativity of Paqueta, the goalscoring of Bowen, and potentially also the crossing and set-piece qualities of El Hadji Malick Diouf, if the young left-back can rediscover his form from the late summer.
El Hadji Malick Diouf explains why Jarrod Bowen is West Ham United’s star man
In a playful interview with the Premier League’s official YouTube channel, the £20 million signing from Slavia Prague provided a brief rundown on a handful of West Ham teammates.
And ‘world-class’ Lucas Paqueta may be, well, some of the time anyway, Bowen still retains his status as the king and captain of the London Stadium.
“I like to play with [Paqueta]. He’s really good, I think he’s like a world class player,” Diouf says with that boyish smile of his. “He’s really, really good, yeah.”
“I love [Bowen]! He’s a really, really, really good player,” he adds, and extra ‘really’ for added emphasis. “He’s got everything; experience, talent, the finishing. He helps us a lot.
“I think he is the best man in the squad right now.”
The 1-1 draw away to Brighton and Hove Albion last night represented a return of sorts for both the West Ham duo. Nuno was delighted with Paqueta’s return to the team, a week after his ludicrous red card against Liverpool.
Bowen returned to goalscoring ways, meanwhile. After eight Premier League matches without one, Bowen rifled an ‘unbelievable’ finish past Bart Verbruggen to end a drought which had left the skipper parched since the draw at Everton over two months earlier.
How far can Malick Diouf go? And what does he need to do to become a world-class left-back?
Diouf hails Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola ‘experience’
During a run of one defeat in six matches, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola have also had a major part to play. Wan-Bissaka showed Gary Neville how far he’s come – and the rest of the Manchester United supporters, for that matter – with a peerless defensive display at his old stomping ground.
Soucek embraced his new-found supersub role with goals off the bench against Burnley and Newcastle. Nuno gave a special mention to goalkeeper Areola, as well. Probably the biggest reason why West Ham have stopped shipping goals from set-piece situations.
“[Soucek brings] the experience,” adds Diouf, who spoke to the former Slavia Prague captain while negotiating his summer switch to the English capital. “He played five years here and he understands the league, how it works.
“So, it is easy for him to talk to a new player like me. He helped me a lot. Before, he called me about the team. I was calling him to ask about [life] here. He told me the right things, so he gave me the motivation to come here.
“[And Areola] is a good goalkeeper. He has the experience. I think he helps us a lot, he does a good job I think. We are happy to have him. He talks to us a lot, we have good communication when we are talking on the pitch, it’s different to have this kind of goalkeeper talking to you every time.
“He’s really good right now with us.”
“I don’t know too much about [Wan-Bissaka yet, but] he likes [to tackle]. He likes to slide. I think he’s a good player.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
