West Ham picked up just their second win of 2020 at the weekend when they saw off Southampton 3-1 at London Stadium at the weekend, a game where new recruit Jarrod Bowen got off the mark.
Bowen put the Hammers ahead before goals from Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio put the seal on a priceless win that has come in the middle of a brute of a run of matches for David Moyes' side.
The Hammers were beaten by Man City and Liverpool prior to the Saints win and now face Arsenal, Wolves, Spurs and Chelsea in their next four games.
That Saints win was crucial and as Moyes said after the Liverpool loss: "The season starts now." They have a 100 per cent record since then, admittedly only one game but hey, the stats don't lie.
In the last two games, the Hammers have shown some fight, finally, under Moyes. The loss to Liverpool was galling having gone 2-1 up in the second half, losing their best player on the night in Tomas Soucek to injury shortly after half time, yet nearly held on for a point against the Premier League champions elect.
Even in defeat, there were some positives to take. The four at the back stifled Liverpool and Watford took the same approach in their following game to beat Jurgen Klopp's side.
West Ham then allowed Southampton to have the majority of the ball, 66 per cent of it in fact, at the weekend but were devastating on the counter attack, scoring three times.
Moyes now has to settle with his four at the back formation having tinkered with it throughout his second spell in charge of the club. He experimented with five but it is clear that the players he has prefer being in the four.
The emergence of Jeremy Ngakia at right back has helped in the absence of Ryan Fredericks, Issa Diop has started to find some form, Angelo Ogbonna has maintained his consistent level and Aaron Cresswell is better at left back than as a third centre half.
At the other end of the pitch as well, we've known Sebastien Haller works best with a partner ever since he arrived at the club but has barely had the luxury of having that under both Manuel Pellegrini and Moyes.
With Michail Antonio and also Jarrod Bowen supporting him, Haller is a different player and scored just his second goal of the year at the weekend in the win over Southampton.
In midfield, Declan Rice has already made 100 appearances for the club which is just bonkers as that has flown by but he is now the lynchpin. Moyes has seemingly lost faith in Manuel Lanzini despite defending him to the hilt, with Pablo Fornals preferred at the weekend and the Spaniard should stay in the team going forward.
There is only one question mark and it comes over skipper Mark Noble. His inspirational leadership is unquestionable, but is that translating to actual impact on the pitch? When Soucek returns from injury, there has to be a case for his inclusion ahead of the captain but that is a gamble Moyes is unlikely to make.
But for now, Moyes has got his tactics, he's got his personnel and he's got a good result. Abandoning those over the upcoming games would be remarkably remiss despite the tough opposition that is on the horizon.
The manager has previously said he wants his team to be able to adapt but he needs to play to their strengths, which he has discovered in the past two games, despite one of them being in defeat.
