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It’s a recurring part of the fabric of West ham that an unexpected good result is followed by a poor performance against less quality opposition.
While Sunday’s display against Newcastle was impressive, the Hammers really need to buck their usual pattern and follow up with a win against Burnley this weekend.
There was much to savour on Sunday - having fallen behnd to a wonder strike from Jacob Murphy, Nuno’s men dug deep to chisel out a deserved victory.
The defensive organistion and tenacious midfield snuffed out the Magpies, while uo front Summerville, Bowen and Paqueta played with purpose and as a unit to keep Newcastle under threat throughout.
Fernandes and Freddie Potts brought a level of energy to the midfield that has been lacking since Declan Rice departed, with Potts gaining confidence all the time he gets game time.
But Newcastle had a host of injuries and an eye on Europe that was almost certainly a factor in howthe game evolved. Burnley will bring a lot more fight and will know that even just 10 games into the season that this is already a relegation six pointer!
Patience and determination will be key factors at the weekend. A big plus is that Nuno seems to have found his best starting XI and a formation that allows defensive stability with a decent attacking threat.
Lucas Paqueta had his best game in a while against Newcastle and can expect to be targeted against Burnley. That should provide space for Fernandes and Potts to show what they are capable of.
Summerville is well overdue a goal to complement a string of decent performances. Nuno seems to have realised that Diouf is the best left back option to support him.
The Hammers are still 49.3% likely to be relegated on current opta supercomputer calculations. Saturday will greatly influence that rating - up or down!
After Saturday, West ham have a string of tricky fixtures bringing them to Christmas. If they can squeeze out some results between now and then, a few astutes incomings in January and we can push on.
Beating Burnley is key to that. As fans need to get right behind them on what will be a crunching collision.
COYI!!!