Rumours are continuing that Nuno Espírito Santo has had little support from the board and his demands to bring in his own backroom staff at West Ham has led to internal disputes and ongoing issues.
I was led to believe, having written previously that this issue had been resolved, yet with only Rui Barbosa joining as goalkeeper coach, though this has yet to be officially confirmed by the club, there has been no additional movement, with the board standing firm on the promotion of academy coaches as the first team support.
Tactical decisions have baffled fans and pundits alike—most notably the deployment of left-back Scarles on the right flank and the controversial choice to start matches without a recognised striker. The situation has become so surreal that some have joked about seeing goalkeeper Alphonse Areola leading the line in upcoming fixtures.
The Brentford game should have provided enough evidence yet this was ignored and continued at Elland Road – four goals conceded and nil points over two games.
Woeful statistics say it all
The Hammers currently hold the unenviable record for most goals conceded from set pieces and ranks 19th in the league for high-speed distance and sprinting—metrics that point to a worrying lack of intensity and organisation.
Perhaps most damning is the historical context, between Graham Potter’s tenure and Santo’s current reign, West Ham has endured its worst start to a season in 93 years, managing just a handful of points from nine matches.
As the pressure mounts, the question remains, will the board back their manager with the resources and autonomy he needs, or will internal politics continue to undermine progress on the pitch? One thing is clear—something has to give, and soon.
Sunderland 2 ,Chelsea 1, just shows what you can achieve with good management and forward planning.Both absent as far as West Ham goes.
I find this utterly bizarre. It’s very difficult to comprehend and perhaps the headline to this post is on point. Is Nuno being set up to fail? Why on earth did he take this job? Has he been misled? But then, if Nuno is that good (and not everyone thinks he was a good appointment, let’s be honest) why on earth would he repeat the calamity of Monday night on the following Friday. I really dislike the short term outlook in the modern game with no time being given to managers to build (and West Ham aren’t the only club to suffer with this) but, why can no one at the club see what is so blindingly obvious to us season after season. The club is rotting from the inside out slowly but surely. I cannot remember a side as poor as this, managers/ coaches this bereft of ideas and owners this blind / ignorant to the decline the club is going through. Strategically, there is no strategy and we will not survive this season. As much as I’d be happy to be proven wrong, we are very likely to end up like Southampton languishing in the mid to lower end of the Championship, and will do so for some time. I see absolutely no reasons for optimism as the transfer window will arrive too late for us to strengthen and who would want to come to this sinking ship anyway. Championship is much better fun anyway…
I don’t know whether that’s right or not about being set up to fail, we don’t have the defence to play like Nuno needs and his two first choice keepers should be sponsored by Pimlico plumber’s because they show what a disaster leaks can be.
Nuno looks like he wants out already, his teams always have a really low xg like Moyes and Dyche and his is the worst at Forest they had the season of a lifetime where everything went right they couldn’t sustain that and while I might not agree with their chairman’s antics he was smart enough to understand Nuno had a shelf life and ceiling so he gambled on getting rid of him why he thought Big Ange would be the answer is anyone’s guess but it was still the right move.
Just like Moyes teams other managers have worked him out because he is a one trick pony and if you can score 2 goals against his sides you will win 99% of the time, so go on the attack.
The board and Nuno are too blame, Scarles on the right is craziness, you can’t fix that defence you need to fix creativity at least Moyes would try to create moments in games, Nuno doesn’t even do that which is why we are now where we are, imho he would be better abandoning tactics just make the team aware of the threats from the opponents and let them figure out a way to negate them and tell them to be creative up top, it can’t be any worse than the shower we are watching.
The problems , on the pitch are there for all to see ! Mainly players being played out of position & seemingly no proper marking at corners !! As to what’s going on behind the scenes who knows , West Ham have a massive history of supposed ‘ inside leaks’& obviously this increases as the results worsen. I’ve been attending for over 60 years now & can’t remember being so fed up 😪⚒
Never mind players out of position, how does Irving get a game ahead of Potts and Magassa?