Adapt and survive

Sam Allardyce has praised his squad for their ability to adapt ahead of this weekend's trip to Norwich.

The newly-promoted Hammers take on last season's surprise Premier League package at Carrow Road this weekend with Allardcye yet again having to defend his tactical approach following yet more unfair - and, some would say, lazy - accusations in the press during the past few weeks.

Some elements of the media have chided Allardyce for what they perceive to be a singularly direct tactical style - even though there were few examples of that when his West Ham team overwhelmed Fulham 3-0 at the Boleyn Ground last weekend with a performance full of slick passing.

And Allardyce was keen to highlight that fact when speaking this morning ahead of what promises to be yet another tough test for his squad. "The best way for a team to play is to have variation and we have shown that since the beginning of the season," he said.

"We go short, we go long, we go forward, we go back, we go diagonal and we go in behind. It makes us very hard to play against and luckily we have the players like Ricardo Vaz Te and Mark Noble who can adapt.

"I really like the variation of the squad. We have a lot of talent - young, old, homegrown and foreign - and it all adds to the mix to form a very strong squad, which you need in this league."

Looking forward to this weekend's game at Norwich - a match from which West Ham are hoping to take their first away points of the season having been well beaten at Swansea in their only previously fixture on the road this season - Allardyce maintained that regardless of the wide array of options open to him now, only full commitment from all areas of the team would be enough.

"We must not forget how hard we worked against Fulham," he warned, adding, "we must do the same again when we play Norwich."