Don't expect these surprising Hammers to quit clanging

On Saturday, West Ham beat a Manchester City team that fielded the most expensive starting XI in EPL history. The 2-1 loss was City’s first in the EPL and the club’s first EPL goals allowed allseason. Saturday also marked West Ham’s first ever victory at the Etihad, a win that saw the Hammers become the first team in a decade to claim away wins against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City duringthe same season.

Obviously many EPL twists and turns remain, as the season’s still only six games old, but West Ham is now in third place, tied with Leicester City, behind Man City andManchester United. However, while Leicester should be falling back to earth sometime soon, it would not come as a surprise to see these Hammers competing for a top six spot in the Premier League thisseason — which would represent rarefied air that this East London club hasn’t breathed since 1998-99, when West Ham United finished fifth.

In truth, West Ham should probably be on topof the standings, as its only losses came while finishing with 10 men against Bournemouth and Leicester.

There’s a nice mix of talent on this squad, and its hot start came without formerBarcelona stalwart Alex Song, who turned down bigger clubs to return to West Ham, as well as Ecuadorian attacker Enner Valencia. Both will be out through October dueto injury. The Hammers brought in Victor Moses, the winger on loan from Chelsea, and Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic from Hull. Added to a roster including theoutstanding Senagelese midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, countryman Diafra Sakho at striker, Spanish goalkeeper Adrian, Winston Reid incentral defense, English youngster Carl Jenkinson at right back, as well as captain Mark Noble, who’s been at the club since 2004, among others.

CLANGING FROM DAY ONE. Trying to follow every little thing that happens in Europe during the summer offseason simply isn’t possible. Sometimes it just makes moresense to wait until the transfer window closes, ask for a scorecard, and then see who ended up where in the world’s most expensive game of musical chairs.

Given this fact, it’s notunusual to hear a familiar name popping up in August on a team, or in a league, that sounds wrong to your ears, though I have to say my ears were nearly dumbfounded while half-watching what I expectedto be an easy win for Arsenal on the EPL’s opening weekend. As I heard three names from outside the Premier League that I had always personally rated quite highly, and none of these names werebeing employed by Arsenal, as all three are now cashing checks from a club that finished 12th in the EPL last season, West Ham United. A fact that saw the club immediately gain my undivided attention,for its good taste, if nothing else.

1. The Magic Man. On opening day, Arsenal seemed almost completely unaware they were facing one of the best tablesetters in the entire world, and it was nearly comical to see the confused expression on Dimitri Payet’s face in his EPL debut. Payet clearly hadn’t seen a defense(naïve enough to) offer him that much space in years. The Frenchman gleefully toyed with Arsenal time and again during West Ham’s deserved 2-0 win at the Emirates, as the Gunners’ pregamescouting must’ve skipped the fact Payet led all of France in assists during two of the last three seasons (including 17 helpers a season ago). Payet, who has three goals and two assists in theEPL thus far, also scored a dozen or more Ligue 1 goals twice in the last five seasons. While it’s West Ham’s gain for now, why Payet wasn’t being pursued by the biggest clubs in thePremier League was an utter mystery.

He soon will be.

2. The Invisible Man. Payet may become a star in the EPL; though it’s unlikely Angelo Ogbonna’s name will ever rise to such heights. As theadjectives associated with the 27-year-old Italian central defender don’t sell papers, but they are dear to the ears of teammates and coaches: reliable, strong, steady, accountable andcomposed.

Perhaps the highest compliment one might pay Ogbonna, who is currently nursing a hamstring injury, is that during his 41 Serie A appearances while winning titles with Juventus, youcould hardly ever tell when he was on the field. An estimable anonymity when one considers he achieved it while replacing the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli andLeonardo Bonucci.

Bilic: “At the end of the day we deserved it. We were fighting as a unit from thegoalkeeper to the striker.” #MCIWHU pic.twitter.com/RlRmWopV89

— Premier League(@premierleague) September 19, 2015

3. Right Coach, Right Time. Now 47years old, Slaven Bilic made 48 appearances for West Ham in the late 1990s and he was the youngest coach at Euro 2008, while in charge of his native Croatia. Anyone who’drecently watched him willing his Besiktas teams to perform in Turkey, or in UEFA tournaments, with an intensity that seemed to carry his players to heights they couldn’t reach on their own, maybe surprised to learn the now beardless Bilic wasn’t the first choice to get this job. West Ham will be grateful it failed while angling for bigger names, ones who won’t offer this clubwith modest dreams what Bilic will, and that’s his heart and soul. Funny, strange and often more honest than his peers during interviews, Bilic is eminently likable, communicates well with hisplayers, and he’s certainly a big reason there’s an odd harmony afoot at West Ham.

You won’t see chips on the shoulders of these Hammers, they’re well aware theyaren’t the EPL’s best team, but they also know they’re good enough to beat any team in England on their best day. For bigger clubs, that’s not enough, and that in itself may beWest Ham’s biggest advantage, as their fans, players and coaches have all seemed to have forgotten this is a business — they still seem to think they’re playing a game.

“Idon’t know how long this is going to last,” Bilic said after the win over Manchester City. “The one advantage we have is that we have flair players who fight for the team. Playerslike Payet and [Manuel] Lanzini are running for the team right at the end and it’s not common for these types of players to do that. They tend to be moreflashy.

“That’s why we are winning games and it’s a good feeling,” Bilic said. “It’s like walking into a pub full of girls.”