Among all the new signings, there were some doubts about whether our Wembley heroes could compete at this level, but they quickly demonstrated their ability in the Premier League. Dan Ballard, Wilson Isidor, and Eliezer Mayenda’s goals were fuelled by another colossal defensive performance from Ballard, and it’s fantastic to see them thrive.

The fans were in top form, which is exactly what we needed to get us through this campaign. It won’t be difficult to keep it up if the performances are consistently good, but it’s encouraging to see as we face more difficult challenges this season.

Seelt was given his Premier League debut from the start, and it was truly unfortunate that, despite a promising preseason, injury cut that opportunity short once more for the big Dutchman.

Hopefully, he can recover and this isn’t a serious setback.

…

The stadium. The Sun. The new strips are like the first day of school. The buzz. The Tifo. The premier league. The excitement, tension, and simply being here! There will be many difficult times ahead, but we are back. Happy days. What a game. Dream world!

We have new heroes to follow — the three scorers were last season’s heroes — but if I had to pick one, Omar Alderete was the standout. He changed the game in the back after replacing Jenson Seelt. What a commanding figure, but they were heroes to me.

We can only get better, and in many respects it’s obvious, but with seven players making debuts, they’re never going to click and be making that extra run to cover or help a teammate.

That comes with time and experiencing success and adversity together, but it seemed to take us forty five minutes!

The loudspeakers were muffled, but happy days!

That performance symbolised the best attitude from a newly promoted side — a bit full of themselves having achieved promotion in great style, and this feeling ran through the whole team, not just the players who represented Sunderland last season.

We played without fear and with a raw energy that just blew West Ham away. I know Graham Potter has underperformed as manager, but the Hammers are a solid Premier League team that have recently won a European trophy.

The intensity of our play combined with the noise of the crowd just made sure that our opponents were overawed and eventually totally nullified.

I’m happy with our new signings, but I was a little concerned about how we would blend as a team. No trepidation was seen from any of the players, though, and they were lifted by the 46,000 crowd.

We were solid in defence, Robin Roefs kept a clean sheet on his debut, our midfield couldn’t be faulted for both style and purpose, and new captain Granit Xhaka must be on a real high now.

Dan Ballard was man of the match and scored with another towering header, and I was also delighted for young Eliezer Mayenda and his substitute Wilson Isidor, who both picked up where they left off last season.

In the context of the new dressing room, it was great to see our familiar scorers asset themselves in our first Premier League game for over eight years.

No worries now about their transition to the next level, and there must be a new respect for the talent already at the club among the players we’ve brought in over the summer.

No first half goals…only joking!

The Seelt injury is a worry, but Omar Alderete proved a capable replacement.

Although every single player deserves praise, there was something poetic about seeing goals from those who’ve been in the trenches with us.

Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and WilsonIsidor deserved all the plaudits and took their goals brilliantly and I couldn’t be happier for them.

The first half was tense but I was so pleased with the determination of our squad.

We need to remember that the team hasn’t had long together, and if this is how we played in the first game, there are exciting times ahead.

Tackles weren’t shirked, and we were clearing the ball with ease, showing all the signs of a squad who belongs in this league.

Hearing Wise Men Say before kick off caused goosebumps and we really did act as the twelfth man, but if had to offer one piece of criticism, it’d be after half time where there was a slight lull.

I appreciate that half time pints are part of the routine but we need to remember that we’re playing nineteen cup finals here. Sing your hearts out from minute one until minute ninety!

On BBC Newcastle, Régis Le Bris said that initial signs for Seelt were not too serious, but it’s never pleasant to see someone having to come off.

Seelt — although he might end up not playing at this level — deserves praise for his performance and composure during this game. He’s done really well to step up and support the squad.

This was a huge occasion with seven new starters, but the fact that three of the goals were scored by our promotion players meant a lot to me and, I’m sure, to them.

The new lads did an excellent job, but the combination of old and new propelled us to the next level. Amazing.

I was very impressed with the new players, and given the team’s churn, delivering such a performance was something we could not have imagined. My favourite had to be Habib Diarra.

He could’ve scored and was a constant nuisance in the middle of the park, tracking back and pushing up whenever he could or needed to.

Amazing output and cohesion for such a new team, for which the head coach and staff deserve a lot of credit.

Robin Roefs had an outstanding performance, commanding his box and making crucial saves. You have to feel for Anthony Patterson, but based on yesterday, you can see why the Dutchman has taken the top spot. We finally have real depth of quality in the green jumper, which must be a plus.

There was a period late in the first half when the Hammers upped their game, and the grit the team displayed was that of a group that had been together for much longer. They worked hard and made it to halftime with no goals conceded.

Whatever the gaffer did in the second half changed everything, and the end result was something to be proud of. I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t get up for this one and experience it — but with this performance, we have to be optimistic about the rest of the season.