The season is quickly at its halfway point and West Ham are poised to continue their hunt for European Football. From a stellar starting stretch to confident regularity, here are three “bests” thus far for the Hammers.
The three sections for this breakdown are as follows: the best goal of the season, the most improved player, and the Hammer of the Year (so far). All sections will have a runner up listed, too!
Goal of the Season
We have to start with the most obvious answer of the three sections listed. Look no further for the best goal of the season for West Ham and the Premier League than Manuel Lanzini’s top corner laserbeam rocket shot in extra time to complete the comeback against hated rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
The match came at a pivotal time for the Hammers in the young season. After beating Wolves 4-0, losing out in lopsided fashion to Everton in the EFL Cup, and then coming back to beat Leicester 3-0, there was some uncertainty about what team would show up for this London Derby.
West Ham was on the verge of taking the next step or continuing to fall short; Manuel Lanzini ensured they progressed forward.
The team was set up in a wingback formation eliminating the central attacking midfield role that Lanzini would occupy if starting, but the extra defensive coverage didn’t matter. Quick offensive bursts saw Spurs take a two-goal lead in eight minutes with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son each scoring.
Eight minutes later, Spurs would add another goal from Kane to make it three nothing. Spurs didn’t coast out the match either, with Jose Mourinho bringing on Harry Winks, Lucus Moura, and Gareth Bale to get goals of their own.
The unlikely comeback started from the Hammers’ unwillingness to say die. A well-earned freekick saw a Cresswell delivery that met Fabian Balbuena’s head, 3-1. Vladimir Coufal’s great press down the right side and a flooded box of West Ham players, Davinson Sanchez heads it into his own goal, 3-2…
It was set up perfectly. The comeback was on from the 82nd minute onward and in stoppage time the unthinkable happened. Subbed on in the 77th minute, Lanzini would get his chance. A short delivery from Cresswell would get half-cleared by Winks. Robert Snodgrass would pressure and Angelo Ogbonna would block winks off allowing Lanzini to let loose and shatter Spurs hearts everywhere.
The perfectly placed shot saw its ways through a mess of players and went crossbar and down past a helpless Hugo Lloris. The comeback was sealed in stoppage time, after a Gareth Bale miss no less, and West Ham would take their point and celebrate.
Runner up:
Ironically, the runner-up to goal of the season so far comes from a player who isn’t on the team anymore. Divisive striker Sebastien Haller’s overhead kick against Crystal Palace. Following in Andy Carroll’s footsteps, Haller lashed a cross from Coufal into the back of the net in acrobatic and dramatic fashion. He may be gone, but his goal will live on!
Look no further than Aaron Cresswell for West Ham’s most improved player of the season. Thought of as a past-his-prime backup only player, Cresswell has thrived this season, racking up the stats and contributions of a world-class defender.
To call me a Cresswell critic would be generous. Last season, the myth of Cresswell being a good defender was being touted as Arthur Masuaku’s poor defensive form saw him dropped in favour of the elder Englishman.
Cresswell has always been solid on setpiece and dead-ball deliveries. His left foot is exceptional and against Chelsea last season, he even proved that when advanced forward enough he can thrive with a sneaky right-footed shot on goal.
This season, Cresswell embraced a change in formation that sparked West Ham’s return to defensive stability in a 5-2-3 setup. Cresswell slotted in at left centre-back and had Masuaku and Angelo Ogbonna flank him as a wingback and central centre-back respectively.
In this role, Cress had insulation from extra defenders, someone to push out wide left for extra coverage, freedom to roam forward when possible, and someone to play off of to create space to cross from the wide positions.
With four assists on the season, Cresswell is poised for one of his most productive seasons ever at West Ham. Due to Masuaku’s injury, he has been pushed back to left-back as the formation changed, but he is still impactful and is getting settled in this role yet again.
Runner up:
Many would look to Angelo Ogbonna for runner up for the most improved player, but Oggy had a stellar season last year and has continued to climb. Instead, it should fall on Fabian Balbuena or Arthur Masuaku, two players dropped and destined for transfers out in the summer. Both have looked great this season but Masuaku got injured and Balbuena was dropped due to fatigue.
It is a two-horse race for West Ham’s Hammer of the Year between last year’s winner Declan Rice and defender Angelo Ogbonna. The Italian Stallion edges out Rice, though and takes the prize so far this season.
The renaissance continued! Angelo Ogbonna’s return to form that started last season has carried over exponentially this year, pushing West Ham’s Italian defender back into his country’s international team and to the top of the form charts for defenders.
It is a simple game played extremely well for Ogbonna. At the club, Ogbonna acts as the central centre-back in a back three or the left centre-back in a traditional back four. His duty is cutting out the aerial balls over the top, covering over for Cresswell on the left, and dominating the aerial duels on crosses and setpieces.
He has mastered this role, anchoring the Hammers to six clean sheets this season, with a shutout streak of over seven hours to start 2021 as well. He has also been a massive factor in the Hammers only allowing 22 goals against and having a +5 goal differential thus far.
His tenure with Juventus and the Italian national team, mixed with his long time with West Ham allows him to bring a winning mentality, appreciation for history, and focus on games regardless of manager or system used.
The head-and-shoulders above nominee for Hammer of the year is enjoying fully acknowledged success with two FIFA 21 in-form cards, shouts for top centre-back in the league and outside the traditional top-six, and joint credit for pundits counting West Ham in for European football this season. It has been a masterful first half of the season for Angelo Ogbonna.
Runner up:
As mentioned, it has been a two-horse race at West Ham for Hammer of the year. Angelo Ogbonna is the clear favourite at the halfway point, but Declan Rice, the homegrown talent that captains this team is the clear second choice. His durability, play, effort, and heart all add to his case for Hammer of the Year, but he is just shy of the Italian defender.