A glance at the standings after that landmark was reached at the weekend would suggest that the maxim rings true: title contenders Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United are all in the top four, with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool just a few points behind and newly-promoted sides Watford, Norwich City and Bournemouth down in the bottom half.
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West Ham midfielder Pedro Obiang admits that he is still getting used to playing in England and spending time on the bench this season has actually helped him to adapt to the Premier League. It is very rare.
“With West Ham this season, it’s a bit like Southampton a year ago – we keep waiting for them to drop off”, he said.
He said: “We’re very, very optimistic”. “There will be ups and downs with results, that’s football, but we are confident and we are gaining everything that is important: atmosphere, individual confidence, team bonding”. West Ham took four points off Watford that season, including a 4-0 win at Vicarage Road and a 1-1 draw at Upton Park.
Allardyce’s work at Bolton seems so long ago that it’s easy to forget the magnitude of what he managed there – but perhaps he can go back to the future and give the Black Cats a nudge towards something more than a perpetual cycle of short, intense boom and more prolonged bust.
The unfortunate thing is that if you finish fourth you have to play a qualifying game – and no doubt we’d get a real toughie – like the fourth best team in Spain or Italy.
While his confidence is admirable, the reality is that West Ham likely won’t have the firepower to sustain this recent run of form.
“I’m not sure how clever that would be as it’d really put pressure on people – it’s not bad to be two off the lead”.
This looms as the key matchup that West Ham will need to take advantage of.
The signing of French playmaker Dimitri Payet in the summer showed that West Ham are capable of attracting high-profile names, and Honda could well be the next to join.
He said: “It has been a good start”.
“We are not talking about Adrian as much as last season because he is not having to make so many saves and the squad spirit is soaring”.
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Against Chelsea, they hunted in packs, closing down the opponents to force them off their intended paths.
