Eight goals and seven points from three games, within eight days, has gone a long way to answering critics who were worried about West Ham’s propensity to get draws instead of wins and the prospect of league leaders Swansea disappearing over the horizon.
Fans who sat at London Stadium and saw a spirited QPR hold the Hammers to a 1 – 1 draw will have been heartened by the two wins on the trot this week which have put Nuno’s side back into second place.
The Hammers manager has copped a lot of criticism over his tactics and first team choices in recent weeks (from us as much as anyone..)… So, credit where it is due,
Nuno Espírito Santo got just about every call right this afternoon.
A solid starting line up, capable of reversing the Hammers’ recent trend of giving away cheap goals thanks to another midfielder in situ and hence a more solid spine. I’m firmly convinced Nuno started with an XI picked just to get the side to half time without conceding.
Big win today reflected in jubilant dressing room scenes
Speaking after the game, the Irons’ manager told whufc.com:
“Today was very good, it was a very, very good performance.
There are always things to look at, but overall it was a very good performance. We were organised, intense, recovered the balls well defensively.
We did a good job offensively, but I think we can improve. We had a lot of chances to kill the game, but [the win] was very, very important for us.
The fans are happy, so it’s a good day.“
Absolutely.
Using Kanté as amore advanced attacker, a ‘number ten’ in old money, looks to be the young Frenchman’s best position and he’s growing in stature in this West Ham XI. Good call, Nuno.
And, as the game wore on, the decisions Nuno made appeared spot on. Substitutes Castellanos, Austbo and Soucek improved the solidity and, crucially, at no stage handed momentum back to our opponents: Unite the bad old days, Nuno kept his side moving forward in search of another goal instead of sitting back and giving us a nervous last half hour.
Even Hermansen came and caught the ball and looked pretty solid for a change! No slow starts, no tentative first ’45 minutes, no hesitations: Decent defending from the four across the back this week showed Nuno’s message to be getting through.
Well done that man.