West Ham Boss Nuno Throws Off the Shackles With Brave Brentford Calls

Never let it be said that West Ham manager Nuno Espírito Santo doesn’t want to win football matches because in last night’s dramatic FA Cup victory over Brentford there were two major decisions which stood out.

First of all was his substitution of Adama Traoré at half-time.

Traoré, it must be remembered, is one of Nuno’s favourite players and it could be argued he was the head coach’s first-choice transfer since arriving at West Ham.

And Traoré had done alright in a game where West Ham had been competitive.

One run in particular resulted in a shot which went just wide and, of course, the muscle-bound Spanish winger also won the penalty expertly dispatched by captain Jarrod Bowen for West Ham’s second.

Yet despite him performing better than many expected, Nuno didn’t hesitate to replace Traoré and bring on Crysencio Summerville, even though West Ham were 2-1 up in the game.

Nuno Throws Off the Shackles

The second decision was the substitution of Callum Wilson with only 15 minutes remaining in extra time. With the game drawn at 2-2 and lacking any real energy, it had begun to look as if both teams were waiting to play out the remainder of the match for a penalty shootout.

Not Nuno.

If nothing else, Wilson is a gunslinger, exactly the type of player you throw on when you want to win a football match rather than gamble on penalties. By sending him onto the pitch, Nuno made it crystal clear that he was going for the kill rather than settling for a shootout.

Wilson almost justified the decision instantly, with his first touch nearly producing a goal.

It feels like a significant shift and let’s not forget, with the Hammers in relegation strife, Nuno is under no pressure to try and win the FA Cup.

Earlier in the season Nuno opted for caution — most notably when he introduced Max Kilman as a third centre-back during the defeat to Chelsea.

But against Brentford the West Ham boss looked like a manager finally throwing off the shackles.