The final few West Ham fans shuffled through the ticket barriers at Newcastle train station on Tuesday lunchtime with sore heads, sore throats and high spirits.
The echoes of ‘IRONS! IRONS!’ that filled the streets the night before still clung to the stone buildings by the time the road sweepers began their loop of the city.
Those hardy supporters in claret and blue had celebrated long into the north east night after a win and a performance few had seen coming.
‘We’ve been so poor this season, so poor,’ muttered the old boy in a ‘Forever Blowing Baubles’ Christmas jumper queuing for his Costa. ‘I said to my friend we’d be 3-0 down by half-time’.
When Mail Sport messaged one club executive on the train up to ask if the Hammers might just nick a result, they replied: ‘Depends which West Ham turns up!’
That’s the thing, though. The West Ham that turned up at St James’ Park on Monday night was one that hasn’t been seen all season.
The West Ham team that turned up at St James’ Park on Monday night was only that has hardly been seen all season
Julen Lopetegui has come under pressure following his side’s slow start to the campaign
‘They want commitment, they want drive, they want fight,’ said Jamie Carragher of West Ham’s fans before kick-off. ‘And they’re not seeing it.’
Only, for the 90 minutes that followed, that’s exactly what they saw. They saw commitment, they saw drive and they saw fight.
It was not always the prettiest, often not the neatest, but time after time those West Ham players flung themselves in front of shots, stretched out legs between passes, headed away cross after cross after cross and, when the moments came, pounced and took their chances.
Tomas Soucek headed in from a corner after losing his marker Lloyd Kelly before Aaron Wan-Bissaka made a darting inside run and finished past Nick Pope.
If Julen Lopetegui really did have two games to save his job, as reports over the international break suggested he might, then his players responded like they don’t want to see the back of him just yet.
They fought for themselves and for their manager, even those of whom you do not usually expect to get dirt under their fingernails.
Lucas Paqueta possesses talents beyond many others but has frustrated West Ham fans so much this season with needless twirls and flourishes, with little end product, that many called for him to be dropped to the bench.
But Lopetegui stuck with him and deployed him in a deeper role at St James’ Park, with more responsibility and a need for discipline, and Paqueta showed just what he can do.
The Hammers were full of drive, commitment and fight in their victory over Newcastle
The most touches. The most passes. The most chances created and, who would have thought it, the most tackles.
It was Paqueta who nipped in to steal possession just inside the Newcastle half and send Jarrod Bowen on his way to set up Aaron Wan-Bissaka for West Ham’s second goal. That’s what wins you games.
Credit goes to the players but so too to Lopetegui, who made bold calls under the biggest pressure. When the team news was announced, the idea of a midfield pairing of Paqueta and Carlos Soler left many wondering whether they would have the steel required for a cold Monday night in Newcastle.
Soler, signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, had only started one previous league game and that was against Manchester United when he got dragged at half-time and West Ham went on to win the game without him.
That was a result that got Erik ten Hag the sack and yet here was a performance that ensured, for now, that Lopetegui doesn’t.
Soler was neat on the ball and kept West Ham moving forward. He made them tick and for a side that’s spent most of the season as a stopped clock, he’ll be important for the visit of Arsenal this weekend and beyond.
‘He played well and showed his quality,’ said goalscorer Soucek. ‘He hasn’t had that many minutes but I enjoyed playing alongside him. I just hope he gets more minutes and hopefully he will be a success for this team.’
Lukas Fabianski showed why he’s the number one over Alphonse Areola. He’s nearly 40 but dominated his area as Newcastle swung ball after ball into the box and made a remarkable save to deny Anthony Gordon.
Carlos signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, had only started one previous league game
Eddie Howe’s side are now in 10th after Monday’s defeat, their fourth defeat in 12 matches
Lopetegui’s demand for his full-backs to push higher worked with Wan-Bissaka sprinting from the halfway line to score his first goal in more than three years.
West Ham’s hard work during the international break on set pieces with assistant coach Pablo Sanz paid off, too, with Soucek heading in from Emerson’s delivery, their first goal from a corner all season.
‘We have struggled with set pieces and finally we scored one,’ added Soucek.
‘Last week we worked on set pieces a lot and how Newcastle positioned their players in the box. After the game I hugged him (Sanz) and said “Finally, we scored from a corner!”
‘He always tries to think of special ways for us to score and outthink our opposition. Finally, it was perfect for us.’
Sanz will have more than set pieces on his plate on Saturday with Lopetegui serving a one-game touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season on Monday night.
At least after the result, he’ll still be in a job to serve his suspension.
Tomas Soucek admitted that the team needed the win, which makes their clash with Arsenal much easier
‘We said as a team we have to fight more, to be more confident, and only we can change this,’ said Soucek.
‘If we got battered here and then faced Arsenal, it would have been tough. But now because of the performance and the result, we’ll play Arsenal at home full of confidence with belief we can beat them.’
That’s the thing now. West Ham have showed they can play this way. If they can do it at St James’ Park, why can’t they make sure they do it again. That, for the Hammers and for Lopetegui’s future, is the key.
But then, as so many of those who boarded their trains home on Tuesday morning know, that is so often just the West Ham way.
