I was asked by the Liverpool Echo to answer some questions ahead of the Everton match.
The Hammers go into Saturday’s in a Champions League slot. How come there has been such an improvement on last season’s form and can it be sustained?
Yes, we are in a Champions League qualifying spot and three points behind the reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. It is a great start to the season considering we were in 16th place, one point off the relegation zone, this time last year. The improvement has been down to some great transfer buys over the summer, together with a new style of playing which has revolutionised West Ham. Last year we seemed to have a team created around Andy Carroll with the sole purpose of knocking it up to him. When he wasn’t available we had no Plan B.
Playing Chelsea last year we used a false nine tactic to grind out a draw by parking the bus. This season we have two up front with Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia and Stewart Downing is in the form of his life. We appear to have our West Ham way back. I have supported West Ham long enough to know not to get carried away with our early success and form, it is a very long season and we need to judged over 38 games not 11.
Injuries will take their toll and the bigger clubs have more quality in their squads to cope with this.
A top-four finish is completely unachievable, a top-six has a remote outside chance but top-eight is achievable. My prediction is a finish somewhere between seventh and ninth
Who have been the main men for the Hammers so far, and how do you think Sam Allardyce will set up against Everton?
The whole squad has made a massive jump forward but I have to single out two players, Diafra Sakho, a £3.5m buy from French Ligue 2 Metz reported to be on wages of just £15,000 week. He has scored five goals from six starts so therefore he has to be one of the bargains of the summer.
A special mention also goes to the re-invented Stewart Downing in his new diamond position. Last season his £6m price tag from Liverpool looked like a poor buy but now it looks like a piece of business with one goal, four assists and creating 34 chances, two above Cesc Fabregas.
Have West Ham fans taken Allardyce to their hearts yet, or is the jury still out?
This remains a difficult question to answer. We have all come a long way since last season. The owners refused to be swayed by fan protests and stuck with their manager but they did insist on changes and they bought extremely well in the transfer window as they took a greater control over the recruitment policy. It was never personal against Sam, just his style of play with no Plan B which annoyed many West Ham fans. While West Ham have had a fantastic start to the season let’s judge him over 38 games. Whether he gets a new contract at the end of the season or leads us into the Olympic Stadium remains to be seen. The jury is still out!
What do you make of Everton this season?
It is a topsy turvy table with Southampton in second, West Ham in fourth, Manchester United seventh, Everton 10th, Liverpool 11th and Spurs 12th. I am sure the table will correct itself as the season continues and I expect Everton to climb a few places as the season progresses. Everton appear to have too many draws which they should taken their chance and converted them into wins but there are no easy games in the Premier League. After dropping points against Sunderland and Swansea I am sure Everton to be determined to bag all three points on Saturday.
If you could sign one Everton player (with money no object), who would it be?
I like Seamus Coleman so if Carl Jenkinson returns back to Arsenal I could see Coleman fitting well into that right back role for us. I wouldn’t want 33-year-old Samuel Eto’o, who reportedly demanded £120,000 per week to join West Ham over the summer.
Prediction time. How will it go on Saturday?
Statistically we do very poorly against Everton. We haven’t beaten them since April 21, 2007, thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal at Upton Park, and away from home we haven’t won since December 14, 2005, again Zamora getting the winning goal in a 2-1 scoreline.
Last season Everton did the double over us. Over the 107 years we have been playing each other, Everton have been the victor 65 times while West Ham have only managed 36 wins. I hope our nine years of waiting is over and we get a good result with our new-look strikeforce but I would happily take a draw.
The optimist in me will go for a prediction of a 2-1 win for the Hammers!