I try not to pay too much attention to what managers say in pre-match press conferences. Usually, they are either guarded or delivered in riddles, offering little of real substance.
However, given the gravity of tomorrowâs Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers, I have been listening far more closely to Nuno EspĂrito Santo.
It is not the exact wording that interests me, but the messaging behind it. In essence, does he truly understand how much trouble West Ham United are in?
I am sure there is personal pride at stake over the next two games. Who would not want to show a former employer what they are missing? But pride alone will not keep West Ham in the Premier League.
What did irritate me slightly was Nunoâs description of the draw against Brighton & Hove Albion as âa good pointâ. In my view, it was two points dropped â largely due to the decision to select Max Kilman ahead of Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Max Kilman is likely to start given Todibo’s fitness concernsÂ
New Year, New Hope â Or Same Old Problems?
Still, it is a new year and all that optimistic malarkey. According to West Hamâs manager, the second half of the season starts now:
âEvery game is important,â EspĂrito Santo said.
âWeâre going to start the second half of the season. All of the teams that are around are direct opponents. Itâs really, really important. Itâs huge.
Now we have to recover well. Itâs going to be a quick turnaround. Recover well, assess properly the options that we have, which are not too many, so we can compete in both of them properly.â
That sounds suspiciously like squad rotation to me â though perhaps I am being overly cynical.
Time will tell. But Nuno has already burned through nine lives and at least one get-out-of-jail-free card in his short spell so far.
No more mistakes now, gaffer. There is simply no margin left.
We need 6 points in the next two games,simple as that.
Guess someone is eventually through Nuno’s charade.
He has done well with the midfield and has at least stopped the 0-4 / 0-5 losses.
But him playing error-ridden Kilman + off-form Paqueta ahead of others, cannot be excused. And add to that what he has done to James WP. No normal good buz would suspend a worker without reason, esp when the worker had not erred. This evil trend is allowed at West Ham, with Potter also doing that to Emmerson. And the board looks on regardless. Shame on you West Ham.
As much as I dont like the habit of firing senior coaches, I believe Nuno’s grace period had ended weeks ago.
Should the team not beat Wolves + Notts Forest then the force of gravity into the Championship cannot be resisted.
Come on you iron. God bless West Ham
Thus far , Nuno’s had one decent CF available for just half the time due to age and old injuries and joke CB’s . Unfortunately nothing really changes prior to the Wolves match and it will take time to bed in any new signings . Westham’s defense is still governed by joke CB’s . Westham will likely have to out score Wolves with perhaps 3 goals needed to win . Remember that Wilson started against Brighton and was finished after an hour with Westham having no offensive subs left . Nuno can only work with what he’s got right now which is a shame as these next few matches are very winnable .
Nuno wonât keep us up, his whole approach is too negative. The other night against Brighton they had 61.5% possession which is about our average under Nuno. We are now in a position where we need 8/9 wins and need to gamble and be more positive. Nuno wonât change as he will want to protect his reputation