Of course, in the lower leagues of English football, you can sometimes get away with a lack of quality if you have good team spirit. I dont think that is really the case in the Premier League since quality really does count at this level. Although, teams can sometimes get away with it in their first season due to the euphoria of winning promotion the previous season. Second season syndrome exists because teams dont add quality to their squad. However, the Hammers have been able to establish a pretty strong squad with quality is the right areas. Players like Kevin Nolan, James Tomkins, Mark Noble, Stewart Downing and Winston Reid have been extremely important for them. Andy Carroll as mentioned earlier could still have a very important part to play as goalkeeping Adrian has already, proving that he is able to play with consistency with quality. Looking through the squad, one thing you have to concede is there is some real quality. Its this quality and the other factors mentioned here that should see West Ham comfortably survive for another season.