Sam Allardyce hailed his West Ham United heroes following the Hammers' fantastic 3-1 Barclays Premier League victory over Liverpool.
Big Sam's men thoroughly deserved their win over last year's runners-up, roaring into a two-goal lead within eight minutes before riding out a potential Reds comeback and clinching the success late on.
The Boleyn Ground was rocking when Winston Reid bundled in James Tomkins' header after just 75 seconds and Diafra Sakho doubled the lead with an audacious chip. Raheem Sterling reduced the arrears before half-time before Liverpool improved after the break, but West Ham held firm with a determined and organised defensive display.
Substitute Morgan Amalfitano then capped a memorable game by latching onto the excellent Stewart Downing's through ball and finishing confidently past Simon Mignolet to clinch the points.
"That was an outstanding performance because we outplayed Liverpool, particularly in the first 45 minutes," said the manager. "This wasn't Liverpool on an off-day - this was West Ham on a brilliant day which made Liverpool look ordinary, particularly in the first half.
"The first ten minutes were unbelievable. The first half it should have been more because we created so many opportunities in their box, so I was a little worried when Sterling scored. This is Liverpool, so they'd had one shot on target but they had scored one goal. That's what you're competing against and that's what they've spent £100m on - that quality gets them back in the game when they really didn't deserve to.
"From there on, we coped tactically brilliantly. We saw the game out very well defensively when they were throwing everything at us. So, to get the third goal at that time was welcome. Cheikh was hobbling around [with a groin strain] and couldn't move and Morgan had come on and Stewart Downing - who is having a fantastic spell at the moment - put through another ball that opened up Liverpool's defence. Then, we produced another fantastic finish, which is what we've been looking for since we got back in the Premier League.
"Hopefully there are many more goals like that to come from these players."
When asked why his team had played so well in four of their opening five league matches this season, Big Sam said his players were showing a real hunger and desire to improve in every game.
"For so many different reasons, that was fantastic," enthused the manager. "The encouragement of our new players being settled in with their families, particularly the lads from abroad, and the desire they have to prove themselves at this level of football.
"The other lads who have come in, who have already played in the Premier League like Morgan who scored, and Songy coming in and playing his first full game since last season and lasting brilliantly. Aaron is finding his feet in the Premier League after coming up from the Championship.
"That is having a positive effect on the lads who have already been with us for a while because they have seen us go to another level and it's dragging them up to that level as well. The performance proved that from start to finish. The rest of the players have seen what has come in and it's lifted them.
"Hopefully we can keep this really good run of form going and, more importantly, keep winning. That performance was just what we want at Upton Park."
So, why are West Ham such a potent attacking force at present?
The manager puts it down to a combination of the new diamond formation, playing a pressing game and the outstanding form of England international Downing - who would no doubt have impressed watching Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson.
"It's people fitting into the diamond - we are playing with two players up front who don't let the opposition out, first and foremost, and Stewart moving into the hole. He did a fantastic job on Steven Gerrard and when he got the ball, he created chances and got us going forward with good possession.
"Instead of coming from the back, it came from high up the pitch in the midfield when we got Stewart the ball. That caused the Liverpool defence massive problems."
So, has Saturday's win and climbing into the top half of the table changed Big Sam's expectations for the season as a whole?
"No, not really. What is has done is proved that we should have had more than four points before this game - we should have won at Hull and certainly should have beaten Tottenham.
"That's four really good performances out of five, so we're getting the level of consistency that we want. It's a win at home and hopefully we can push on from there.
"On Monday, it all stops and we prepare for Manchester United next Saturday, who have spent £150m. It's not going to be an easy task, but we go with a lot of confidence. We go as the underdogs, so we can go an enjoy it and if we get something, we'll be heroes again."