Before West Ham United faced Chelsea, Pablo Fornals had been seriously underwhelming in a claret and blue shirt.
The Spain international often looked scared when he had the ball at his feet and could usually be found playing the ball backwards, searching for the safe option, rather than trying to create.
That wariness was reflected by his returns in the final third, as the 23-year-old had failed to produce a single goal or assist in 12 Premier League appearances.
It was he who got the assist for the goal against Frank Lampard’s side though, when he received the ball from Felipe Anderson and laid it off to Aaron Cresswell, who did the rest.
During those celebrations, Fornals threw his arms up in the air and looked overjoyed, as if the burden of his drought had been lifted.
At the time, FFC displayed the opinion that this could provide the Spaniard with the boost he needed to go out and express himself – it seems as though that has been the case.
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He has looked far more confident on the ball, going forward with it at his feet and attempting to make things happen, rather than taking the safe option.
This has paid off for both him and the team, as the creative midfielder has registered three assists from his last four games, including the one against Chelsea.
The second of those came from a well-placed dinked cross into the box against Arsenal, allowing Angelo Ogbonna to get in ahead of Granit Xhaka and head home via a deflection.
With the whole team having been underwhelming during the 2-0 loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he was unable to make an impact.
However, he made up for that against Southampton, when his intelligent header set up Sebastien Haller, for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.
Did he really play for us?! No West Ham fan has managed to name all of these obscure Irons signings….
Fornals has definitely undergone a transformation in recent weeks, something that will be seriously encouraging for Manuel Pellegrini and West Ham.
In other news, FFC has suggested that one West Ham man was back to his best against Southampton.
