By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Another Slow Start From West Ham
West Ham trail Charlton 1-0 at half-time after another painfully slow start from Nuno Espírito Santo’s team.
For the third game running, the Hammers started sluggishly and this time they were punished after just six minutes. Dinos Mavropanos made a hash of dealing with Charlton’s long throw, getting in the way of Mohamadou Kanté before failing to properly contest the ball himself.
The bigger concern was that Charlton simply seemed to want it more. They played with greater desire, physicality and pace, while West Ham looked slow and desperately short of creativity.
Manor Solomon was one of the few players offering some spark, although Charlton were happy to double up on him and allow Ollie Scarles possession. Jarrod Bowen looked isolated on the opposite flank and West Ham needed far more leadership and character from their captain.
Nuno’s Striker Set-Up Makes Little Sense
The positioning of Taty Castellanos and Joel Piroe was particularly baffling.
Castellanos was deployed ahead of Piroe, who spent much of the half playing almost as a number ten. Having watched plenty of Piroe at Leeds and Swansea over the past week, what Nuno asked him to do looked completely alien to his game.
Arne Engels also struggled to provide the missing creativity. The £22m midfielder got himself into one good position but shot tamely when a square pass looked the better option.
West Ham need considerably more pace, urgency and imagination after the break because Charlton looked far too comfortable with what was in front of them.
More West Ham news and reaction from Claret & Hugh.
Should never been given the job now the price is not just relegation but I fear a free fall,for me recruitment has been light years away from the talent that’s been sold and that has fallen out with a clueless manager
Can we please get rid of Nuno. Our defenders are working harder than any others defenders in the league at this rate, all up in the other half then all back to defend, at times our goal keeper is the only one in our half, no wonder the players look half dead when they come of the pitch. Yes the players need to be more clinical but give them the tactics to get out there and get the results, it’s a real shame because sending everyone up causes the other team to mount a 11 man defence which as we know is very hard to break down.
Nuno out ASAP ! Scott Parker in ! Nuno relegated us and he will bring us in League 1! Spuds k ow that and they sack him after 7 games!
Sean Dyche? You have got to be kidding! They need to stop the slide not just pass it on to another loser. Bowen looks like he just got home from a late night party and apart from Solomon, Engels and Orford, the rest can all follow Nuno out the door. They are absolutely clueless, weak and pathetic.
We are s..t Nuno needs pace with new signings, we are not getting promoted with this dross . We need to realise we need to work harder and attack quicker so slow . Not happy with the board , Nuno or the lack of effort from the team
This club is at a crossroads, keep with Nuno and be condemned to championship football for seasons to come. Change at the top before it’s too late
Bye, bye Nuno. Hello Paco or Sean Dyche, in the name of mercy put this man out of his misery.
Think it’s time to look for a different leader on the pitch. To see this real lack of inspiration in the team requires a much better Captain than Bowen. He’s a great player but not a Captain, we have struggled as a team since he got the armband.
Take the responsibility off of him and find another leader, let Bowen focus on his own quality rather than the team.
Charlton are sitting back and waiting for the counter. We have no idea how to break them down and the build up is all too painfully slow.