da 888casino： West Ham’s turnaround has been phenomenal over the last few weeks.
da betsson： The David Moyes revolution took a few weeks to kick in, but despite having to face Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in successive weeks, it seems to be well and truly here.
That unforgiving run of three tough fixtures saw the Hammers pick up four points, and although it wasn’t enough to actually bring them out of the relegation zone, it was enough to create belief within the side.
There was always a big question still remaining, however: although Moyes had managed to get his defensive players playing in an organised and solid fashion, could he do it in a game where his side would have less motivation, against a smaller team where that on-edge defensive performance wasn’t going to be necessary?
And although Mark Hughes’ Stoke City are hardly one of the league’s best sides right now, they answered that question as emphatically as they could.
Although Marko Arnautovic will get the plaudits for an effective, yet antagonistic performance, Manuel Lanzini’s effectiveness shouldn’t be overlooked.
When playing those teams in the top six, when defensive solidity and pace on the counter-attack are of paramount importance, against a side like Stoke, it’s the creativity of a Lanzini type figure which comes to the fore. And he didn’t disappoint.
His 80 touches from the number 10 position was more than any other player on the pitch apart from Stoke’s Joe Allen, who equalled the Argentine’s tally. But it’s what Lanzini did with it that counted.
His two assists are the most obvious contributions, but his accumulation of five dribbles and four key passes was unrivalled by any other player on the pitch, and he still managed to keep his pass accuracy to an impressive 90%, despite clearly looking to be direct, make things happen, and set his teammates away.
It was a complete performance from a player who will be relied upon to be the creative spark in a side who are still attempting to shore up a leaky defence.
When Moyes arrived, one of the criticisms was whether or not he’d be able to fashion a functional attack given his expertise seemed to be defensive organisation rather than the other end of the pitch.
In Lanzini – not to mention getting the best out of Arnautovic – he’ll have a player able to do that creative role in the games the Hammers are expected to win, not just the ones where they can perform above expectations. And that will be hugely important for the rest of the season.