Three things we learned after West Ham United beat Bournemouth this afternoon.
The West Ham players looked to be back to their best this afternoon against Bournemouth.
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The Hammers have really struggled in the Premier League this season, and have been battling down near the relegation zone ever since the first game of the season.
David Moyes has been under real pressure, but recents wins over Fulham and Gent and a draw with Arsenal alleviated that pressure somewhat.
Today’s result against Bournemouth really eased our relegation fears and set us up perfectly to really focus on Europe, with a huge two-legged semi-final clash with AZ Alkmaar to come next month.
Three things we learned after West Ham United beat Bournemouth this afternoon
What a huge three points that was for the Hammers on the south coast today.
But what did we learn from the game?
Lucas Paqueta really is in a class of his own
The 25-year-old Brazilian ran the show against the Cherries and always tried to make things happen.
Lucas Paqueta scored as well and was a constant threat all afternoon. The midfielder now seems to be well up to speed with Premier League football.
What a player we have on our hands – £51 million well spent!
We have badly missed Aaron Cresswell’s set-piece ability
It’s no coincidence that West Ham have been far less potent from free-kicks and corners since Emerson Palmieri replaced Aaron Cresswell in the starting lineup.
That’s nothing against the Italian, he has actually been very good for us since football resumed after the World Cup break.
However, Cresswell’s dead-ball ability makes us so much more dangerous and he proved that with an exceptional delivery for Michail Antonio to head home the opener today.
Signed for just £4 million, he must go down as one of our best ever value-for-money signings.
Counter attack can still work
Now, Moyes’s system of sitting back and hitting teams on the counter attack was clearly found out during the first six months or so of the season.
However, if West Ham play with quick and incisive passing, we can still be a really effective team on the counter attack.
West Ham looked like the team of the last two seasons today at Bournemouth.
The players were back to their clinical best inside the final third and we defended with composure, tenacity and solidarity throughout the entire 90 minutes.
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