Squad players all doing their bit

The impressive thing about the new West Ham is that when needed all the squad players come in and do a job for the team. Moyes seems to have got rid of a lot of the egos. It would have been easy for Ryan Fredericks to have sulked since being replaced by Coufal, but he's come in and played really well at Aston Villa and then scored against Sheffield United as a late sub. That goal was made by Said Benrahma, another player who might have been annoyed at being left out of the starting line-up.

Similarly Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals don't seem to be complaining to their agents every time they don't start, while Crag Dawson has had to wait an age to get a game. Issa Diop is another big-name signing who has awaited his chance and returned to score against the Blades.

The man management certainly seems to have improved at West Ham, and perhaps with Moyes and four senior coaches in Kevin Nolan, Paul Nevin, Alan Irvine and Stuart Pearce there's time for every player not in the side to be spoken to and made to feel valued. For once the sum of a West Ham team seems to be greater than its parts.

Smells like team spirit

Interesting article in Monday's Standard where it says that Sam Allardyce identified West Ham as "having no soul" when he joined, which was one of the reasons he recruited Kevin Nolan. If he's referring to team spirit then Nolan's captaincy certainly seems to have turned the club around even if he can be a frustrating player to watch. We kept going right to the end when a goal down to Sunderland earlier this season which was a great sign and the blocks our defence made just before half time against Chelsea indicated our lads were putting everything in. We beat Chelsea for desire in the second half.

Diame was immense and Alan Hansen on MOTD described him as looking like a combination of Yaya Toure and Patrick Vieira, which sadly might have a few of the top four sniffing round. Another good sign was the performance of Carlton Cole, who rather than sulk stuck at his job. We're going to need him for the next eight weeks. The Guardian said it "felt like a watershed moment for West Ham". Was this the moment Sam Allardyce and the fans finally bonded? His substitutions made a real difference and his dance of joy with the coaches was someting you normally only see at weddings when Come on Eileen comes on, but indicated a man starting to enjoy managing West Ham.