Week in, week out, Sam Allardyce's West Ham United just keep on defying the odds, and are seemingly going from strength to strength in the Barclays Premier League. Saturday's 2-0 win over Leicester City, was the Hammers' fourth win in five league games - with only two points dropped from a possible 15 in the process. The Upton Park faithful are enjoying every minute of what has been an incredible campaign so far, and it seems like the sky's the limit for Big Sam's team.
Before the season started, West Ham were predicted for another campaign of struggle and strife, with even Allardyce himself not too sure if he was still going to be the Hammers boss when the season kicked off against Tottenham Hotspur in mid-August. But after a very active summer, where the Hammers brought in the likes of Alex Song (on-loan from Barcelona), Carl Jenkinson (on-loan from Arsenal), Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho, Mauro Zarate, Diego Poyet, Morgan Amalfitano, Aaron Cresswell and Cheikhou Kouyate - West Ham currently sit fourth in the Premier League table. Nobody, not even Big Sam could have envisioned how successful his new recruits were going to turn out to be. They have all gelled together extremely quickly and are a big part of why the Hammers are flying so high.
Despite the new signings having a major impact on West Ham's recent success, the Hammers' existing players have performed equally as impressively too. Sam Allardyce made the decision to play the natural winger Stewart Downing in a more central role. The move has turned out to be a stroke of genius, with the 30-year-old enjoying a new lease of life at Upton Park. Downing has gone on to score four times this season, including the second in West Ham's 2-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday.
Andy Carroll has returned from injury to find himself in magnificent form. The 25-year-old has scored three times in his last three outings, and is looking more like the £15m player they signed from Liverpool last year. Spanish goalkeeper Adrian, is another player who has been a revelation this season. The 27-year-old stopper has been a Premier League ever-present for the Hammers this term - he's made four clean sheets - and produced a number of outstanding saves.
Sam Allardyce seems to have the perfect blend of ability and experience. Everything seems to be fitting into place at Upton Park this season, and the Hammers are showing no signs of giving up their Champions League spot anytime soon. After the weekend's results, the east London club sit two points above Southampton - who occupy 5th, and four points above Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in 6th and 7th respectively.
The fact that we are even mentioning the Hammers and Champions League in the same sentence speaks volumes of their current success. The sign of a good team is the ability to bounce straight back after a defeat, and every time the Irons have suffered a loss this season, they have hit back with a positive result.
Nobody can predict just how far West Ham can go this season, but after already winning nine times this term - including home victories over Liverpool and Manchester City, the level-headed Hammers fans are going to enjoy every single minute of it.
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