By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
West Ham’s 4-1 Carabao Cup win against Southampton was ultimately a triumph for Nuno Espírito Santo and his young Hammers.
Nuno picked an incredibly youthful side at St Mary’s and would have come in for a huge amount of criticism had the gamble backfired.
We knew beforehand that Nuno was planning wholesale changes and opportunities for the youngsters, but he went even further than expected.
Instead of backfiring, it worked so well that he now has a genuine selection conundrum ahead of Watford.
In this video, I look at some of the individual performances from a night when West Ham’s youngsters absolutely stole the show.
West Ham Kids Grab Their Opportunity
Josh Ajala grabbed two goals, Lewis Orford oozed class throughout and Divin Mukasa produced arguably the most exciting performance of the lot.
Mukasa had already returned to West Ham on loan from Manchester City with a big reputation, and we’re now starting to see why.
Orford’s performance shouldn’t have surprised anybody either.
The academy midfielder had already impressed during the 3-1 victory over Portsmouth and continues to look increasingly comfortable in senior football.
Ezra Mayers and Airidas Golambeckis also seemed to grow into the game and get better as the night progressed.
By the time the senior reinforcements arrived, Ajala’s brace had effectively done the damage and the pressure was off.
That allowed the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos and Manor Solomon to flex their muscles and see the game over the line.
Great momentum and confidence from tonight hopefully. Now then Nuno have you got the conviction to give these lads another go or are we going to see the same line up that let us down so badly on Saturday.Surely any sane manager would change very little from tonight apart from a couple of players and see how they go for at least an hour.
Maybe this game has shown Nuno two things. Firstly the 4-3-3 formation gives a better balance to the team, with either Taty or Piroe “up top”. Also the midfield three of Engels, Orford and Mukasa were outstanding. Not only did they complement each other but their passing, skill and mobility made us look a vibrant team and a constant threat. Add in the bonus of how well the Academy players performed plus the assured way Veltman conducts himself and we have real grounds for optimism.