Whether it is a brave new world in the making or just ‘back to the future’ – head coach Nuno Espírito Santo has been explaining his determination to force through change at London Stadium. This feels like Julen Lopetegui’s muddled thinking all over again, but one thing is clear, what had gone before hadn’t worked.
So change is essential. Whether the Portuguese coach can pull it off with enough points accumulated to stay in the Premier League is another matter altogether.
Over-analysing how the Hammers got to this point is unnecessary- every fan who has been turning up to the London Stadium more in hope than expectation has their own opinion. The decline has been several years in the making. So turning results and attitudes around does, indeed require something different than simply more of what has come before.
Espírito Santo wants to change ‘what has gone before’
Speaking on the skysports podcast, West Ham’s fourth head coach in sixteen months was resolute. When asked if he had to look around at what he’s got and then experiment, maybe trying something different, Nuno replied:
“Yep, I believe so. I believe we have to have a different approach so that we can look for success because what was behind [before] was not quite there… I’ve found a group of people – not only the squad, the club – determined to change and improve. But now we have to be patient. Each and every one of us, in their own department. We cannot expect things to happen just like that”
Speaking after the Brentford loss, Espírito Santo revealed that he’d hoped that the Monday night game would have been a catalyst for a revival:
” That’s what we expected for from Monday – to have this ‘click’ but it didn’t happen. Let’s go [again] – Friday can be it….We have to make things happen. We need it.”
Yes, indeed we do.
I honestly do not know what the thinking was on Monday night. The starting line up looked like a dogs dinner but I thought Nuno may have been able to see something that I didn’t, cue we played exactly like the dogs dinner that I thought we would.
What was wrong with AWB and Diouff in their correct positions, Magassa in midfield and one of the Callums up top sub one off and the other on ?
We keep hearing Igor is training well Igor is training well Igor is training well – Why if our centre backs are not ripping it up and he’s not going to play ?
I was shocked by Mondays selection, Brentford were coming to us second bottom of the away table we should have been going at them with our best eleven. We were lucky it was only 2-0 is the bitter truth. I despair.
Moyes could have bought Gnoto, he wanted the move, but at £15m Sullivan decided he was to expensive
Moyes “steep decline” was due to him being effectively sacked by Sullivan at Christmas with West Ham sixth in the league
It’s not NES’s fault he has three useless centre backs and no serious centre forward and it’s a huge task to resolve that in the transfer window.
How we managed to buy these players and then not recognise they weren’t good enough along with several midfielders lies at the root of the problems, a seriously flawed recruitment process.
All NES can do is have is play the best players in their correct positions and try and keep the ball to reduce the pressure on the defence. It’s hard to coach commitment, effort and tenacity with weak defenders but he has to try.
Don’t play Soucek, Rodriguez, Irving, Ward Prowse and get some energy and desire in the team from the younger signings and the academy. And have a big think about Pacqueta who is not playing at his level.
It’s probably the worst squad we’ve had for years and there are no simple answers to bad players. Sullivan killed us in the Summer transfer window altough its not clear Potter could of done better with any player he wanted in the squad.
Moyes on a steep decline, Lopetegui and Potter have killed the squad along with Sullivan treating a huge club as a old mans hobby. Not having professional people running the critical departments and having an overall vision of the clubs direction results in scattergun reactive short term fixes and no real progress.
It’s not lack of money we have spent a lot on really bad players we then can’t give away. Look at Brighton, Bournemouth Fulham and even Brentford – clubs that should not be near us in size and ability to pay and attract the right players. They have business and football plans and follow them, the biggest clubs of course do as well. We do something see what happens, then do some of the opposite, then do nothing and repeat in any sequence.
Sadly it all looks bleak currently. I still remember after yet another terrible Sullivan manager, Avram Grant, got us relegated Brady said that would never happen again…..