#4 Best Team Performance: West Ham United
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Before the game, much talk had been about the “attitude” of a certain Dimitri Payet. Bilic had stated that Payet doesn’t want to play for West Ham anymore and subsequently omitted the French midfielder from his matchday squad. And initially, it seemed that they sorely lacked the creative spark of the midfielder.
However, a bold substitution which meant replacing the experienced Ogbonna with Sam Byram immediately brought back urgency to the Hammer’s playing style. Soon enough, Antonio and Lanzini started finding space and it was only a matter of time before they extended their lead. And deservedly the plaudits were there for Bilic’s men who did play the game.
Speaking after the game, Bilic stated, “Payet is a great player so you are losing quality, but the team showed it is about the team and not individuals. This is a great example for that. So let's talk about Carroll, or Darren Randolph, or Mark Noble. Michail Antonio was down with a flu and a temperature of 38.4C last night. He showed brilliant determination, brilliant quality. That's what I want to talk about.”
Honourable mentions: Burnley and Everton
