Nuno’s Espirito Santo’s assertion that West Ham need to keep trying new things ahead of a tough away fixture at Elland Road tonight will have many Hammers fans ducking behind the sofa in anticipation of another Lopetegui-style chaos ball performance.
Deploying players out of position was a hallmark of the Spaniard’s tenure as he seemed to change his own mind mid game or even on the bus whilst travelling to the ground.
Genuinely thought we’d seen and end of that when the hapless head coach was fired.
However the appearance of inverted full backs and midfielders out of position took us all aback.
The results of Nuno’s much – criticised strategy were predictable.
We have to hope that West Ham’s coach takes a breath, backs up, looks at the Everton result (the one solitary point gained so far in his three games) and does his best to replicate the squad and performance produced on that day.
Which would mean a starting eleven – injury permitting – more like this:
Areola, Walker Peters, Mavropanos (injured – sub-in Igor Julio), Kilman, Diouf | Magassa, Fernandes, Paquetá | Bowen, Fullkrug (injured, sub in Wilson) and Summerville.
But in all truth, it’s anybody’s guess. We’ll have the actual starting eleven for you at 18.45 so check back for Nuno’s chosen team (A scary prospect indeed!)
Score predictions:
Sean 0 – 0 “Neither team can score”!
Matt 3 – 0 Leeds win.
Gonzo 2 – 0 Leeds win
Bunch of pessimists: Martin 0 – 1 West Ham win: Classic smash and grab away dig-in as Nuno’s side find some cojones.
Looks like you’ve got this one wrong, Martin. No cojones either ! One slight ray of hope; we do have a forward line which is competitive, but what good is it when we do not have a defence; & keep making presents of goals to the opposition ? Still 25 minutes left of this game, West Ham a bit more in it, but can they score ? And , if they do, what will the “defence” do ?
Are you serious Nuno , don’t tell me that is our best players best line up is that really our best squad ,err NO. What are you doing man !!!
I was shocked by the selection on Monday, said it’s either inspired or deranged the performance will tell. It was deranged. How can you predict a score when some bizarre selection might be made. At the start of the week I had us down not to lose, but I’m not that confident now, I’ll look at the selection and hazard a guess in light of that. Please let it be something not too different to Areola, AWB, Igor, Kilman, Diouff, Magassa, Fernandes, Summerville, Paqueta, Bowen, Wilson. I’ll need to add all playing in their normal positions.
prepare to be shocked again, John
West Ham to win tonight just, pressure off not playing at home.