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I’m getting so much positive feelings being a Hammer at the moment. Long may it last ! Have a great weekend all. Enjoy the match to everyone going tomorrow ! ⚒️
Believe the data: West Ham are the best they have ever been
It would have come as a surprise to many to see Said Benrahma step up to take the fifth and decisive penalty against Manchester City. But for one member of David Moyes’ backroom staff, a goal must have felt like an inevitability.
When Benrahma dispatched his kick past Zack Steffen he was embraced by his team-mates and fans in the lower tier of the West Stand. The playmaker has started the season in promising form, scoring three league goals in nine appearances. The contributing factors for Benrahma’s shift in confidence are mainly due to the support he has received from Alan Irvine.
In May, it was announced Irvine would step down from his full-time role as assistant manager to become the club’s technical advisor. These days, he is tasked with providing scouting reports on the opposition team — he attended Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw at Leeds United last week, with West Ham set to face the Midlands club in a few weeks.
The former West Bromwich Albion manager remains a valued member of Moyes’ backroom team. When Irvine was in his previous West Ham role, he regularly had one-to-one sessions with Benrahma. Together, they set about a plan of how the playmaker would force his way into the starting XI. In January, the 26-year-old was struggling with the transition of playing in the Premier League following his permanent move from Brentford.
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West Ham are flying high in the league and Europe (Photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
He was yet to score and had a poor return of two assists in 13 league appearances going into the second half of the season. Yet Moyes and his coaching staff were confident Benrahma would become an integral player. He just needed time to adapt. In a one-to-one session, Irvine referenced how Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka initially struggled to force their way to Moyes’ plans at Everton. But once they got into the team, they stayed in the team.
Those words of encouragement have had the desired effect. This season, Benrahma has started 10 of West Ham’s 13 games in all competitions and has only been taken off before the 85th minute once in the Premier League.
After every training session, Benrahma and Irvine would regularly study video clips. Irvine showed the playmaker every chance he had in games and where he was getting them, what was happening and where things were going wrong. They would then recreate those chances on the training ground. The duo would go away with a bag of balls and some mannequins, and Benrahma would attempt shots in those areas at young goalkeeper Nathan Trott.
Now Benrahma is the second-highest scorer at West Ham this season (four goals in all competitions, behind Michail Antonio on seven).
This special bond between Irvine and Benrahma is just one example of how Moyes and his coaching staff have transformed the culture at West Ham.
The club are flying. They are fourth in the Premier League, have won their first three matches in the Europa League and have been granted permission to increase the capacity of the London Stadium to 62,500.
Yesterday, The Athletic revealed how owners David Sullivan and David Gold are in talks to sell a 27 per cent stake in the club to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, with the option of a full takeover in the future. Kretinsky’s planned investment is understood to value West Ham in the region of £600 million.
West Ham have kept clean sheets in their last four matches and are unbeaten in their last nine matches away. After missing out on a fourth-place finish last season by two points, they are again threatening to break down the door. They have knocked out Manchester United and Manchester City to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2017-18.
To get an understanding of just how much West Ham have improved under Moyes, we can turn to Club Elo, a measure of team strength. The model works by teams earning points the same way they would in a normal game but they get more points for beating tougher sides and fewer for overcoming easier opponents.
Below shows how West Ham’s Elo rating has changed over time, from 1946 to 2021. Currently, their rating is higher than it was at its previous peak under John Lyall in 1986.
Lyall spent 15 years as manager and is fondly remembered for winning the FA Cup in 1975 and 1980. He also guided the club to their second European Cup Winners’ Cup final and a League Cup final in 1981.
Now, however, the Elo model ranks West Ham as the sixth-best team in English football, displacing Tottenham (22nd) from the supposed Big Six. Their rating (1,835) ranks 15th in all of Europe, sandwiching them between Sevilla and Juventus, just above the average of 1,800 for a Champions League-quality side.
When Moyes and his staff arrived two years ago for his second spell as manager, West Ham were in 17th, one place above the relegation zone. They have changed the culture at the club. For example, if a player arrives late for training at Rush Green, they won’t be fined by Moyes — it is left to the players to decide the appropriate punishment.
Many have highlighted the personalities at the club — Declan Rice, Antonio, Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals — as reasons for the positive mood around the club.
But West Ham have arguably one of the best coaching teams in the league. All of Moyes’ backroom staff have been managers, barring goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero. First-team coach Paul Nevin managed New Zealand Knights, who competed in the Australian A League. Stuart Pearce had managerial spells at Manchester City, England Under-21s, Team GB’s Olympic football team and Nottingham Forest, and had a caretaker role with the England senior side.
Kevin Nolan has held player-manager roles at Leyton Orient and Notts County. Billy McKinlay had brief spells at Watford and Norwegian side Stabaek. It is a hugely experienced coaching staff.
They have enjoyed little time to savour the penalty shootout victory over Manchester City on Wednesday — they held a meeting the following morning to start preparations for today’s game at Aston Villa. It is Moyes’ preference to have discussions with his coaching staff soon after games as it gives them the opportunity to look at what they need to do in training sessions.
Legendary manager Lyall rebuilt West Ham with good additions such as goalkeeper Phil Parkes, full-back Ray Stewart and forward Frank McAvennie. He also gave young players opportunities — Steve Potts, Kevin Keen, Alvin Martin, Paul Ince and Tony Cottee made their debuts under him.
Moyes has done likewise. Since returning to the helm in December 2019, he has given first-team debuts to Daniel Chesters, Harrison Ashby, Emmanuel Longelo, Jamal Baptiste, Trott, Oladapo Afolayan, Aji Alese, Mipo Odubeko and Jeremy Ngakia.
It is well documented that West Ham’s recruitment has also markedly improved too, with signings such as Benrahma, Soucek, Jarrod Bowen, Craig Dawson and Vladimir Coufal all proving value for money.
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Antonio celebrates scoring the winner against Leeds United (Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Moyes is building a team that is capable of being perennial challengers for the top four and the prospect of winning silverware isn’t outlandish considering how impressive West Ham have been in cup competitions this season.
The club have a generational talent in Rice, an in-form striker in Antonio and an exciting emerging talent in Ben Johnson. By plenty of measures, West Ham are the best they have ever been.
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