Virgil van Dijk, Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes. That is the kind of company three West Ham United stars could be keeping if standout performances like against Newcastle in Sunday’s 3-1 win come around more often.
It has never really been an issue of ability at the London Stadium.
Moreso, whether Nuno Espirito Santo could find a system in which to harness an expensively-assembled but perennially-underachieving crop of players.
Or, indeed, whether the likes of Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Mateus Fernandes, Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville, to name but five, could overcome previous confidence-sapping failings at a stadium where many players have wilted under the pressure, choking on the toxic fumes.
As West Ham steamrollered Newcastle at the London Stadium – their first home triumph since February – Nuno Espirito Santo had his answer. There is something to work with, after all. Bricks, mortar, and the foundations upon which to build.
Going into Sunday’s clash, Nuno appeared to be a man reenergised.
The West Ham boss looked beaten, baffled and helpless at Elland Road. This was a stark contrast, locked in relieved embrace with Mark Robson and Rui Barbosa as Tomas Soucek snaffled a stoppage-time clincher.
On a day when Nuno tapped into childhood nostalgia to inspire his charges, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mateus Fernandes and Jean-Clair Todibo repaid their manager’s faith with performances Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes and Liverpool’s Premier League-winning captain Virgil van Dijk would have been proud of.
West Ham United trio El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mateus Fernandes and Jean-Clair Todibo shine
After ten matchdays, Tottenham enforcer Palhinha leads the way in the tackles department. His average of 4.4 successful tackles per game is the highest in the division.
Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes averages the most key passes per game with 2.8, and the 6ft 4ins colossus that is Van Dijk sits atop the tree with an average of nine clearances per 90 minutes.
Against a Newcastle side who could not deal with West Ham’s intensity in and out of possession – that is a sentence few would have expected to read this time last week – Diouf, Fernandes and Todibo proved that they can put up numbers worthy of the elite.
Diouf completed six tackles from left-back. For all the talk over his attacking qualities, questions have arisen regarding the Senegal star’s defensive awareness. This was more like it, though. Even if some may have blamed Diouf for standing off Jacob Murphy as the Magpies took a fourth minute lead in East London, that the winger barely had a kick of note thereafter owes much to Diouf’s ability to stick in and bounce back.
Mateus Fernandes made an ‘exceptional’ start to life at West Ham in August, meanwhile. He dazzled on debut, ironically against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest. This, though, was the Portugal Under-21 captain’s best performance since Nuno swapped the City Ground for the London Stadium.
He produced a game-high three key passes. After Fernandes opened his West Ham account with a late consolation at Leeds, this felt like another big step in the right direction for an all-action midfielder whose aggression and urgency was in stark contrast to the lumbering Soucek – Andy Irving partnership.
Jean-Clair Todibo’s tally of ten clearances against Newcastle, meanwhile, was higher than the seasonal average posted by Van Dijk. Arguably few players sum up West Ham’s recent struggles better than he. A £35 million France international centre-half who joined the Hammers despite boasting admirers at Juventus and Manchester United. One whose performances in claret and blue were making a mockery of both his price-tag and his previously sparkling reputation.
Whether this proves to be a false dawn or the beginning of something, well, a physical, direct Burnley outfit will offer Todibo the chance to build on his best-ever West Ham display next time out.
But still, something tangible to grasp at last.
Alphonse Areola and Nuno Espirito Santo reflect on Newcastle triumph
Alphonse Areola still needed to produce a few fine saves on the day, of course. Particularly one down to his right from Anthony Gordon shortly after Lucas Paqueta’s first-half leveller.
But Nuno will have been delighted to hear Areola talk about the togetherness, the spirit, and the dogged determination of a West Ham side who have frequently been found wanting in those areas all season long.
“Good feeling. Good feeling for us, the team, for the fans,” Areola said. “Even if they scored the goal, we felt that we were solid, especially in the second half. They were more on top of us and we managed to keep the ball away.
“We avoided that [second] goal, and I think we felt we were solid and working all together to not concede again. We were talking about that in the locker room, we said that we felt comfortable and solid on set-pieces as well.
“Now, we have to keep it up and keep working on that. We have to use that win to do the same in the next one.”
Nuno, meanwhile, saw his decision to hand Freddie Potts a first Premier League start alongside the recalled Fernandes pay off with pretty spectacular results.
“The idea was to try and control the middle against Newcastle because they have Bruno [Guimaraes], they have Joelinton, they have some quality players,” Nuno explained.
If you allow them to play free, they’re going to put you against the road, so realising that you had to work very hard was good, and the young guys [Potts and Fernandes] did it.
“It was important to see that we were suffering but not conceding. We were being resilient without the ball, realising that if we are organised it’s hard to beat us.
“So, it’s a small step in the way we had to improve.”
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