Premier League: Team of the Week XVIII feat. Manchester United and Chelsea stars

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Coach: Slaven Bilic (West Ham United)

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Rewind several weeks, and Slaven Bilic was a man very much under pressure. Three weeks ago, the Hammers had won just three games out of the 15 they had played and were very much in the relegation mire. Credit to the club however for keeping faith with the man who guided them to a seventh place finish in the Premier League last season, because in the last three games he has proven himself to be the man to revive the fortunes of the club once again and get them back up the right end of the table. Their Boxing Day win at Swansea was their third straight win, the first time they’d achieved the feat since March, an achievement which has doubled their tally of victories from the season and dragged them up and away from the relegation dogfight to the safety of 11th, with the top eight now firmly in their sights.

Part of the turnaround has been the oratory of Bilic and the never say die attitude he instils into his players. The gritty work on the training ground came to fruition with two hard earned 1-0 victories over Hull and Burnley, but this week, in what was a potential banana skin against another struggling side in Swansea, rather than cave in, the shackles came off, and they were able to cruise to victory at the Liberty Stadium despite not really going above third gear.

Darren Randolph was given an easy day’s work in goal thanks to the sure work of the defence before him, and West Ham were confident in giving Swansea the majority of possession but then when they won back the ball, they were clinical on the break and from set-pieces, midfielder Dimitri Payet particularly influential as the Hammers played out Bilic’s tactics to perfection and obliterated the Swans 4-1.

With Andy Carroll’s return from injury, the Croatian boss has also thrown him straight back into the mix to play his target man role, and is once more getting the best out of him. His display was impressive, yielding a goal and an assist, and thus maintains West Ham’s record of winning every Premier League match in which Carroll has started since returning from injury. It is also their third successive league win for the first time since March, and as much as that is owed to the return to fitness of some of the club’s senior players, Bilic has had to get them back into the fold and playing at their best again quickly, and he has done that to great effect. In recent weeks it has gone somewhat unnoticed, but on this occasion, it warrants due credit.