Fab four give West Ham reason for hope but winless Ipswich played themselves into trouble

After a difficult start to the season, West Ham fans finally got a glimpse of the attacking brand of football they have craved since Julen Lopetegui was hired as head coach.

Their front four — Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta — had come under fire for their lack of productivity in front of goal.

Only Bowen had scored from open play before Saturday. Antonio and Kudus had no goals while a penalty against Aston Villa on the opening day was Paqueta’s only contribution in the Hammers’ first six games.

But all four found the net against Ipswich, with Bowen grabbing two assists. The West Ham captain, 27, has been his side’s best player this season but was left out of the England squad last week, having managed only one goal and one assist before Saturday’s game.

Lopetegui hailed his response to missing out on a call-up and team-mate Emerson was also full of praise.

‘It’s good for the confidence,’ said Emerson. ‘He was unbelievable. It’s good for everyone to score.

‘Every player up front wants to score, make assists and impact our games. They are our top players. You can’t do it every game but they have the quality to do it every game. For this you sometimes see frustration. But they always work for the team off the ball as well.’

West Ham fans may now be more optimistic about Lopetegui’s style of football, but the positivity will not last long if they fail to build on this result against Tottenham and Manchester United later this month.

West Ham were helped by an Ipswich side who played themselves into trouble too often.

‘The fourth goal was good play but we still didn’t defend it well enough,’ boss Kieran McKenna said. 

‘But other than that, the goals came too easily from things that were too simple for them.’

McKenna will feel Ipswich need to secure a first win of the season in their next three games against Everton, Brentford and Leicester.