West Ham sent their supporters home happy for the summer after recording a big 4-1 win over Watford. This win propelled the Hammers into the top half of the table to mark Pellegrini’s first year in charge.
I expected West Ham’s players to be mentally on the beach already, but they showed their professionalism to put an inconsistent Watford to the sword on final day. The Hammers finish on 52 points for the season which crowned our best season at the London Stadium, and lays a wonderful foundation for Pellegrini to build on.
On the day the boys in Claret and Blue were in top form in front of goal, with Arnautovic looking interested again with Lanzini, Antonio and Anderson sharp in the midfield behind him. It was also a great end for Mr West Ham himself as Noble picked up two goals and controlled the midfield throughout the game.
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Watford did look bright for the first half of the game, creating a lot of opportunities without really pushing Hammer of the Year Fabianski into making any saves of note. But at the back they were sloppy, and the Hammers were not missing much. Noble created and finished all by himself after picking the ball in the middle of the park for the opener, whilst Lanzini was the only person to react to Antonio’s shot hitting the bar, allowing him a simple header in.
Whilst Zabaleta’s poor back pass let Watford get one back straight after half time, the Hammers were given respite from a red card Watford were given after a clip on Antonio who was breaking through. Once again the Hammers got ‘lucky’ with a deflection off the post, Arnautovic this time benefiting from being the first to Anderson’s shot that came back off the post.
And to round off the season the skipper put a penalty away after Antonio was brought down in the area, securing a great end to the Hammers first season under Pellegrini. Now the rumour mill will kick into overdrive as some of the fringe players edge closer to exits and the board begin the long process of bringing new players into the club.