Is Sears back from the dead?

Avram was pleased with him and some have apparently decreed Freddie MOTM - despite Cole's brace and Green's heroics - so has Freddie come back from the footballing scrap heap, a player reinvented and reborn?

Of course, West Ham fans have a tendency to err on the side of optimism when an Academy kid has a good game. Absolute mustard, the dog's bollocks, the new Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick...

Against Blackburn it was Boffin, and after the performance at Craven Cottage, Sears is now the latest in the West Ham production line to come good...we will see.

It is true that Sears gave some shape to the team and stuck to his defensive duties better than Barrera (in previous games) and Stanislas. He also had the virtue of being right footed and playing on the right flank. Others have made the point that he showed good energy, closed well and ran around a lot. He also showed good movement at times when he came in off the flank. It was lovely link up play when Cole set him up for his shot (which flashed wide typically) and he did well to break beyond the Fulham defence to set up Cole, following Piquionne's lovely pass.

But we must not get carried away. Overall, I don't think he did that well when in possession and on two occasions, he was eased off the ball far too easily when Fulham players leaned on him. His frame remains a disadvantage in a game increasingly dominated by athletic specimens. For every Messi, there are now ten players who are six foot plus and built to bully the little squirts. And sadly, Sears does not have the control nor ability of Messi.

His reinvention as a right sided midfield player, of course, presents a major challenge to those who talk about Zola's coaching skills. It was not the Italian who spotted this potential but coaching yard dog Neill Warnock! Who would have imagined that Warnock could appraise a player's attacking strengths better than Zola?

Everton, of course, will present a far bigger challenge than Fulham. Baines will be overlapping and Everton's midfield five will be pulling our defence in all directions. I would look at the defensive strengths of Behrami ahead of the attacking potential of Sears for this one personally - in the very unlikely event that Valedictory wants to play over the Christmas break!

It is, of course, far too early to be reaching any sort of conclusion about Sears. What the boy desperately needs is a goal; then, with confidence restored, we might see what he is really made of!