West Ham 2 – 3 Southampton | More shots, more possession, more corners – yet porous Hammers flounder

That ‘contest’ this afternoon was over after fifteen minutes by which time West Ham were two-nil down and virtually out. Kyle Walker Peters’ excellent strike brought the Irons back into the contest, only for Southampton to knock in a third goal and restore their superiority, all before half time.

It was ironic that Walker Peters should put in an appearance for a superb strike down the Saints’ end, the defender having performed so poorly for the opening minutes as Southampton ran riot down, and through his right back position.

This performance was sadly very reminiscent of the worst days of Julen Lopetegui’s era when the midfield trio of Rodriguez, Alvarez and Soucek proved invisible, porous and unable to shield the defence: Southampton this afternoon cut Nuno’s side to ribbons each time they ventured forward.

Without a ‘holding’ midfielder specifically sitting in front of the back line, the Hammers’s defence looked terribly exposed and yet the whole side seemed shell shocked to be two goals down – as if this was something new.

How he organises his midfield trio of Mukasa, Kanté and Engels must surely be the subject of an inquest as none seemed prepared or positioned to block Southampton’s rampages in the first fifteen minutes.

After twenty minutes it must have been painfully clear to West Ham’s manager that a change was needed yet none was forthcoming until the sole change at half time when Scarles came on for Morato: The second half descended into numerous substitutes, several out of position players, three strikers getting in each other’s way and seemingly no coherent plan.

Granted, Soucek and Walker Peters both scored great goals – as Southampton’s second by Bree was a real ‘worldie’ – but despite their 26 shots on goal, the Hammers were never at the races.

The scoreline might suggest West Ham were close – but in reality, this was the very worst of the bad old days with Nuno’s tactics, his team selection and his reaction to going behind woefully inadequate.

What, I wonder, is Nuno saying to his team to send them out in a comatose state week after week.