HomeFeatured ArticlesCan West Ham's cup victory change their season?

Can West Ham’s cup victory change their season?

Every football club has that one game a season they look back on in May with a great deal of satisfaction. West Ham United have had a miserable start to the 2017/18 campaign, but The Hammers may just have had ‘that’ game on Wednesday night at Wembley.

Following their 0-3 home loss to Brighton, many thought Slaven Bilic’s time had come to an end at the London club. It was the sort of match and result you felt had screwed and tightened the nail in the 49-year-old’s coffin. He stood on the sidelines, quite frankly watching the promoted Seagulls embarrass his side. Brighton battled, they scrapped for everything, and they reaped the rewards from an industrious away performance.

In contrast, the boys in claret and blue played in a way that reflected their points total. The boos that ringed around at full-time that night were soon replaced by the roar from the section of West Ham fans at Wembley just over a week later. 2-0 down to Spurs at half-time – a team who have prided themselves on their home form in recent times, it didn’t look good for The Hammers.

No-one knows what changed in that second-half, but Spurs’ concentration faded and Bilic’s men found a new hunger. It started when Andre Ayew bundled home from close range to pull one back and restore some hope amongst the travelling away fans. You could see a real sense of belief in the West Ham players on that Wembley turf all of a sudden. The Ghana international looked the best bet to make it happen for the visitors, and five-minutes after pulling one back, he lashed in the equaliser. When Dele Alli’s scorcher of a volley was remarkably stopped by Adrian, you got the feeling this might just be Bilic’s and West Ham’s day.

The manner in which Spurs conceded the third couldn’t have been more uncharacteristic of them. The corner swung in from the left, to find the head of the rising Angelo Ogbonna, who glanced the ball into the far corner to send a section of Hammers into elation by the corner flag. The Croatian takes his side to Selhurst Park on Saturday – a game he will see as a winnable one for sure.

You can’t underestimate what the Carabao Cup win will have done for that squad. Morale suddenly picks up amongst the players, as well confidence and the knowledge that they can win in games where they look down and out. It’s certainly too early to label it as a season-changer, but if anything is to change The Hammers’ fortunes, it surely has to be this.

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