West Ham are still 18th in the table with nine league games to go. Yet despite that, I think I love this team.

Of course, I’m a West Ham fan — I’m going to love the Irons no matter what. But that doesn’t always make the squad “likeable” – think of Avram Grant’s side that was carried by Scott Parker, the Big Sam team that put in some embarrassing displays in early 2014, or even Graham Potter’s limp Irons of 2025.

I still believe that Potter has blood on his hands when it comes to West Ham’s current predicament. But since January, Nuno Espírito Santo has cultivated a squad that the fans can really get behind.

That was the big takeaway from Monday night’s FA Cup victory at home to Brentford: how badly West Ham need to survive this season — because this side has real potential, and the Irons must do their best to stay up and really push for a positive campaign next season.

Nuno’s team has given West Ham fans hope. Out of the four teams in the relegation battle, they are currently picking up the most points and playing the best football — and it’s not just Hammers fans saying it. Neutrals are also becoming aware of how good we are right now, with most of them backing us to beat the drop.

You just have to look at the passion exhibited by the new signings, who have only been at the club a couple of months, to know how much this side respects Nuno and the badge. Seeing Axel Disasi celebrate a big block against the Bees on Monday night was sensational — the Frenchman has been at West Ham mere weeks but behaves like he grew up in Canning Town supporting the Irons all his life.

There is a real fight and passion about this Hammers side, one that hasn’t really been seen since the UEFA Conference League triumph of 2023. And that determination, that desire that the players and coaching staff are showing, is rubbing off on the fans.

I’ll always be a West Ham fan, but there are certain periods where you feel connected or disconnected from the club. After the debacles of Potter and his predecessor Julen Lopetegui, and the state the club found themselves in, I was ready to accept the seemingly inevitable fate of relegation.

But Nuno’s side has reeled me back in — a team doing everything they can to remain in the top flight, who have also advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since moving to the London Stadium a decade ago.

There’s just something about them. They might still go down, but I sincerely hope not, because I’m really starting to love this current West Ham team — and I know I’m not the only one.