West Ham’s midfield in the first half of their friendly win at Fulham offered a tantalising glimpse in what’s to come for Manuel Pellegrini’s team.



We only saw it in full flow for 45 minutes but it was a fun 45 minutes at that as Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, Jack Wilshere and Felipe Anderson rain Fulham ragged at times.



The four constantly switched positions, Wilshere was the most disciplined of all but we saw the other three take it in turns at number ten, left wing and right wing.



The only goal of the game came from the Hammers left as Aaron Cresswell’s cross was turned away but only as far as Lanzini, who curled home a beauty past the stranded Marcus Bettinelli in the Lillywhites goal.

Anderson started on the right side and made three surging runs past Joe Bryan while Fornals buzzed around in the middle in support of fellow newboy Sebastien Haller. The two linked up within 30 seconds of kick off as the Frenchman laid off expertly for the Spaniard though his pass to Anderson was overhit.

A lot of the play came through Wilshere, who would receive the ball from his defenders, turn and face up the Fulham midfield with Anderson running one way, Lanzini another way and Fornals another. It was never congested despite the amount of talent in there.

(Image: Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images)





Wilshere has seemingly been told to play a bit deeper than number ten this season and to be honest, it’s his wheelhouse. It allows others to drag defenders out of position and opens up gaps for Wilshere to keep things ticking over. With his midfield compadres occupying defenders, that then allows the full backs to bomb on which they did at will in the first half.



Just a quick diversion to the full backs briefly, Ben Johnson is seriously pushing for a starting berth this season. Ryan Fredericks missed out against Fulham and Johnson continued to press his claims in others absence.

(Image: Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images)





But back to midfield - if the service to Haller up front had been a bit better than the Hammers would have been out of sight by half time. As it was, only a couple of half chances fell to the Frenchman in the first 45 though he should have buried one of his two quick chances not long after the break.



If that service improves from his dynamic and fluid midfielders, he’ll bag an absolute hatful next season.