By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
The reasons to be optimistic about West Ham’s season are disappearing fast, and I genuinely believe the next three days could define the future of the football club.
In this video, I discuss why I’m increasingly unconvinced that Nuno Espírito Santo is the man to get West Ham promoted.
He isn’t getting the best from Jarrod Bowen, we still struggle to break down stubborn defences and, despite desperately needing a creative midfielder, there appears to be little sign of one arriving.
Three Huge Days For West Ham
But this goes far beyond Nuno.
Tuesday 1 September brings Transfer Deadline Day and a huge Championship game against Wolves at the London Stadium.
Then comes the next stage of the pre-emption process surrounding Vanessa Gold’s shares, with Daniel Křetínský and Amanda Staveley battling over West Ham’s future ownership.
We’re about to discover who wants to invest, whether Nuno gets the players he needs and, against Wolves, whether this poor Championship start is becoming something far more serious.
For West Ham, this really does feel like crunch time.
If you look at the players we are going for and the nominal sums we are paying it’s possible that the board are readying themselves to sack Nuno.
I’m calling it now: I think we’ll switch to two at the back, with Austbø and KWP as aggressive wing-backs. Álvarez or Veltman can play the half-back/defensive midfield role, dropping into the back three when we’re out of possession.
Three up top, playing closer together, with the wing-backs providing the width and overlapping. We switched to this system late against Charlton and looked really good for the last 15 or so minutes, until Taty shat the bed with the penalty. We’ve just been missing the options on the wings to make this work effectively.
Numo has 2 games but why I’m not sure .
He was bought in to save us from relegation and failed .
Yes we were already in trouble when he joined but he made some terrible decisions, that ultimately decided our fate .
His football is uninspiring, his man management and motivation even less !
Let’s be decisive as a club for once .
There’s 2 great managers out there at the moment
Eddie Howe and Kieron McKenna ….
Spot on mate
I’m with gonzo on this one , he’s not getting the best from this squad or the last one last season. Don’t think he’s the man for the job. There’s no urgency or seemingly a game plan game after game, very depressing football. He’s bringing in players and not playing them? What’s the point!
He’s p*****g players off and getting rid of promising academy players. Needs to go NOW!
lets get vipotnik from swansea goldemn boot winner 20 million
I do think people are going a bit far with all the negativity but I do take the point that if we want automatic promotion, we need to start winning games soon. 2 home gains coming up, for me a minimum of 4 points is required. Confidence is so key in football, win a game or 2 and suddenly the whole team might start playing alot better. Not given up on Nuno just yet but he does need to start getting the best out of a very good Championship level squad sooner rather than later.
As a club we’re further behind in terms of malaise, than before GSB bought into the club ownership from Straumer Assets management company.
Our club has always been used as a cash cow for as long as I can remember (I’ve been supporting since the 1960’s).
At this time, patience and more patience is required from our fantastic fanbase.
It’s going to get a lot worse and frantic over the coming months. A takeover is inevitable and we as supporters are collateral damage.
Whomever, gets the keys to the castle hopefully has a two distinct separate strategies for future development of the football club first, commercial and property development secondary.
We’ll have to see what the future holds.
But, one thing is for sure.
I’m forever blowing bubbles…
You know the rest.
I think youre turning into a bit of a drama queen. I used always tune into watch but honestly you’re really turning into mr negative. Its not been great but christ 1 defeat in five competitive games.
I really think people need to get a grip.
Quite. Gonzo gets his knickers in a twist again. It will feel like crunch time if you’ve had unrealistic expectations to begin with. Take a deep breath!
Unfortunately that’s what people said last season and strangely this season feels remarkably similar. Oh I’m also sure many Leicester fans said similar to you at this stage last season too.