Slaven Bilic wants West Ham to be No1 story in â€˜permanent shift at the topâ€™

The West Ham manager, Slaven Bilic, catches the ball during the Premier League match against Everton — West Ham's manager, Slaven Bilic, catches the ball during the Premier League match against Everton – a team the Croatian described as 'on paper, one of the best in England'. Photograph: Arfa Griffiths/West Ham via Getty

While others look at the league table and see a one-off, Slaven Bilic eyes the future. If many regard Leicester City as an anomaly, the Croat believes they could be trailblazers. As West Ham United ^[1] chase the top-four finish that would make this their best season in three decades, their manager thinks it could be the sign of things to come.

"I think this is a permanent shift at the top," Bilic said. "At least I hope it is." West Ham finished 12th last season. They are a point off fourth now, inspired and obscured by the league leaders, Leicester ^[2], who have soared further and faster. "Our story is excellent but their story is miraculous," Bilic said. "I would love to be the No1 story."

Instead, he is constructing a grander, broader narrative, one where a division is being radically reshaped by the resources all of its members now enjoy. Bilic believes the best cannot become much better with a bigger budget, whereas the rest can. He sees quality and equality alike.

"Say Man City buy Karim Benzema," he hypothesised. "They have Sergio Agüero already, so there is no big gap for them to improve. There is no big space to get much better. Chelsea can sell Diego Costa and buy Robert Lewandowski, yes, but they are only different; not better.

"But clubs like us, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Leicester: we can still improve with the money. Two years ago West Brom maybe could afford Salomón Rondón, but they would have had to sell Saido Berahino to get him. Now they can keep Berahino, so next year, with more investment, you can keep those players. Crystal Palace can keep Yohan Cabaye and bring another one."

It is not often that money is portrayed as the great leveller but Bilic is a left-field thinker. His marquee buy ^[4] possesses similar creativity. Dimitri Payet fashioned Diafra Sakho's equaliser and scored the winner at Goodison Park, leaving him with nine assists and 10 goals for the campaign. He is West Ham's transformative player. His new £125,000-a-week c ontract ^[5] is rendered affordable by next season's TV deal.

The era of the newly affluent outsider ought to suit Everton, finally able to abandon the austerity economics that characterised David Moyes's long reign of cut-price top-eight finishes. Bilic, a former Everton player, said: "On paper their team is one of the best in England." Yet they reside in the wrong half of the table. On the pitch Everton ^[6] are potent but porous, entertaining but error-prone, extravagant wastrels who are undermining the excellent work of their top scorer.

Romelu Lukaku could yet become the first player from a lower-half team to win the golden boot since Dion Dublin shared it in 1998. "When I look at the players, it is a really strong squad," their manager, Roberto Martínez ^[7], said. "We can't wait to get good wins, good performances and build something special."

He saw a fine display for much of the match, marred first by Kevin Mirallas's deserved dismissal and then by a catastrophic ending, when Everton sieved three goals in a dozen minutes. "If you played the game 20 times those last 12 minutes we would have won probably 19," Martínez said – but his men are not the kings of the 3-2 defeat ^[8] for nothing.

Two years ago, and in more stringent times, Everton were posing their own challenge to the top four. Now when they rub shoulders with Chelsea it is because they are neighbours in underachievement. They are no less talented than West Ham but are less proficient at the mechanics of securing a result. "The Premier League is the most ruthless league in world football," Martínez said, citing his seven years' experience in the division as a reason why Everton's new stakeholder, Farhad Moshiri ^[9], should entrust him with his investment.

Bilic, a rookie in this league, is outperforming him, however, and a focus on the finances, while prompted by the Croat, deflected from the acumen that has underpinned West Ham's rise. Sakho's cameo produced a goal and an assist. He cost only £3.5m ^[10]. Michail Antonio, who has scored in their past three games, was recruited from Nottingham Forest< /a>^[11]. Aaron Cresswell, an influence throughout, was unearthed at Ipswich Town ^[12]. Old-fashioned principles, of scouting, team-building and astute management, still play a part in Bilic's brave new world.

Man of the match Adrián (West Ham)