By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
A point at Turf Moor is nothing to be sniffed at, but the way West Ham threw away control of this game should set alarm bells ringing.
For long periods the Hammers looked comfortable, only for Nuno Espírito Santo to revert to a worrying old habit — dropping deeper, surrendering the initiative and inviting Burnley back into a game they looked beaten in.
Early momentum from the Irons saw Max Kilman score a rare goal from a Jarrod Bowen corner. Such was West Ham’s dominance at that point, it was hard to see anything other than an easy day out for Nuno’s team.
But this was very much a game of two halves, with the Hammers in the ascendancy during the first 45 before Espírito Santo channeled his inner Thomas Tuchel in the second.
Solomon was one of the few attacking highlights and Nuno reverted to parking the bus
Nuno parks the bus
Perhaps it was a lack of options or maybe a message to the board for more players, but the way the Hammers backed off and parked the bus was a concern.
Up until we allowed Burnley a glimmer of hope, Turf Moor had been almost silent.
So the timing of Manor Solomon’s second was key because it seemed to suck the remaining life out of the home crowd.
There was still life left in Burnley, however, and Ollie Scarles’ reckless challenge on 83 minutes turned what had been a comfortable stroll into a nervous ending.
And so it would prove.
Once again, West Ham retreated so far back that the Hammers ended up clinging on to a 2-2 draw having been 2-0 ahead.
The truth is that this way of clutching a draw from the jaws of victory is becoming something of a hallmark of Espírito Santo. It’s in his DNA.
In the end, I was grateful for the final whistle because had the match been ten minutes longer, West Ham would have lost.
Nuno isn’t starting with a clean slate
Espírito Santo would do well to remember that he’s not starting with a clean slate.
He needs to address this weakness, otherwise Championship teams will never believe they’re out of the game against West Ham.
Two shots on target and two goals won’t always be enough to secure points, and Nuno has much work to do in all areas of the team.
No doubt he’ll point towards a lack of options on the bench, and that would be a valid excuse. The Hammers clearly need more players, something Claret & Hugh has highlighted throughout the transfer window.
But we’ve seen exactly this type of thing before, even after Nuno had supposedly ‘rebalanced’ the squad last season.
The truth is that West Ham need new signings and a change of attitude.
Because if Nuno continues inviting teams onto us every time we get ahead, this won’t be the last comfortable victory we manage to throw away.
Is Nuno the manager to get team and tactics right West Ham, we a few of us saw players struggling at times when Burnley pushed ahead, not getting in front of the opposing players and not closing down the opposing players was blatantly obvious to us who were watching, these things are taught at lower levels as with passing when under pressure but what is Nuno doing to sought it out ? 88 mins left is late for a player to adjust to a situation where the opposition is pushing forward hard to get the winner. So we think Nuno should look at the whole picture including himself. Is he really the manager to get the best out of our players?
Spot on. Nuno is the biggest problem we have. He needs to learn that the best way to defend a lead is to increase the lead.
If Pablo’s substitution was tactical and not an injury its was woeful. The team lost all cohesion and sense of positioning when he cam off. For all his lack of skill the team always seem to play better and have more energy when Pablo is in the team.
Yes Scarles’ challenge probably turned the game but to be fair he had spent much of the second half defending against two and getting little help. But when we had the ascendancy we did little with it. To be fair to Burnley they created many more chances and with a half decent finisher it could have been 4 or 5 goals instead of 2.
Kilman still can’t defend and when he plays it seems it adversely impacts Mavropanous. Ward Prowse remains woeful and putting KWP out on the left wing seemed nonsense. If west ham want to bouce back in a guaranteed promotion space they need to target 100 points. They have just dropped 2 of those! Its only the first game but already my hope for promotion is receeding fast given that game. The only spark was Kante’s sparkling move that created the second goal.
we need a new left back diouf is on his way out and scarles isnt good enough
A change of attitude required – yes. Nuno needs a confidante or two on the sidelines during a game. These need to be the guys who are coaching the players during the week. They need to be the driving force behind the players instilling confidence and a winning attitude.
Keep doing what you are doing. Forget the ‘save ourselves’ philosophy. Nuno, wake up. Nuno, keep at it. Kid gloves and laying back will not win us promotion. The opposition will not be showing acceptance of any result until after the final whistle.
COYI
We saw this park the bus from nuno plenty of times last season and it cost us nearly every time we were hanging on at the end of the game when had we continued to play attacking football we could have had 4or 5 goals so thanks to nuno we dropped 2 points really not good enough it was a game we should have run out winners without any probems but then nuno put a spanner in the works
What makes me so annoyed is that both goals we conceded came from coaching shortcomings. A :an inability to retain possession from our own throw ins ( Scarles taking it, prior to him giving away a penalty a few seconds later) B; having every West Ham player in our penalty area ( or even worse 6 yard box !) when defending a corner – this then means any clearing header/deflection etc falls to an opposition player- who is free to shoot/return ball to danger area etc . It happened last season, it happened against Portsmouth, it happened yesterday against Burnley. This is a complete lack of coaching nous. Learn from mistakes, don’t keep repeating them !!!!
It was not the performance of an automatic promotion winning team. They get two up and stay two up.
Lack of options my arse. The lads we have are (mostly) plenty good enough for the Championship. It’s on Nuno and his staff to make them better, put them in the best positions to succeed, and to motivate them. Nuno has failed at this for almost a year now. No need to blow money on Championship level players who won’t cut it if/when we make it back to the premier league. Only exception I’d say is that we need a good CB so we don’t have Kilman out there anymore. Other than that, this squad is plenty good enough for promotion.
We do need more players but not too layers who are 4th options in teams like Piroe was. From what I have read he is thought of as slow and not very mobile, we have had that in Fulkrug already. He is not the answer in my opinion.
We need a packet, prolific player who can run with the ball and a proven goal scorer
Don’t think Vardy is the answer
But we do need reinforcement quick
It was sad to loose a two goal lead, when we looked so comfortable, just sat back and tried to hang on and when it is pressure from corners, we just collapse
Shame would have settled for a point at start of game but so comfortable to loose a two goal cushion and again in added time, looked like our usual down fall
We must keep attacking
We a short in forwards the truth is the board will not cough up the required transfer fee for Parrott that is poor. Yes Nuno should not sit back but where are players with pace and creativity