We will soon approach the halfway stage of the season this month when West Ham face Southampton at St Mary’s stadium for our nineteenth league game of the season.
With sixteen games played so far, we ask our Claret and Hugh readers who your player of the season is so far. Obviously we expect Arnie to be right up there and of course Issa Diop has been a revelation.
Felipe Anderson has staged a big bid over recent games as the Hammers have set out on a run of results which has all supporters dreaming.
Then there’s Zaba who continues to defy the years and the hugely improved Robert Snodgrass who has left nothing on the pitch in any of the games he’s played.
There are others so get your thinking caps on and let’s find out which of the squad could be heading for the Hammer of the Year title this season.
Issa Diop is my choice although easy to make a case for quite a few isn’t it ?
West Ham fans don’t always vote for the most skilful or the player who gets all the goals. They will often vote for the underdog as long as they are a grafter.
It’s easy to revel in the continued improvement of Diop, Anderson and Rice. They’re on an upward trajectory and long may it continue. Whilst Fabianski is a much needed increase in quality, really, he’s just doing what he was brought in to do.
For me, by far the most impressive so far this season has been Robert Snodgrass. Not because he’s the most skillful player, nor has he played every minute of every game, but because of his return. It’s like having signed a new player.
The others have never been knocked down and it’s far more difficult to get back up when you’ve been floored – to come back from a seemingly irrecoverable situation – and for that, he deserved immense credit.
I was a massive doubter at the beginning of the season and couldn’t understand why he was involved. But he’s stuck to his task, got down and dirty and proven what I imagine he, himself, always knew he could offer. That takes a lot of resilience and guts and mental strength. For that, he’s my top Hammer at this moment in time.
Great points Buddy, I was thinking similarly about Noble, the reason I went for Diop is because he is young, has moved to a new country, had a baptism of fire with our opening fixtures and results but also knuckled down and worked harder and harder to improve, I think he is also a World Class player, playing alongside two others in Balbuena and Zabaletta, when you look at how all the players are lifting their games, Rice himself, I thought he would be like Eric Dier in CDM or Dendoncker who was one of those players that never quite fit either position but his passing is improving game by game, he played one pass that reminded me of Wilshere in the last game, early days of course but judging by the improvement should Hammer of the Year be the manager and coaching staff ?