Nuno Espirito Santo slammed the bravery of his 19th-placed side after home humiliation against Brentford as they prepare for a hostile trip to Leeds on Friday
Nuno Espirito Santo has urged West Ham to show “another face” in their relegation six-pointer at Leeds on Friday after his disastrous home debut. But the Portuguese coach admitted his side are “very far” from developing an identity under his management after three games without a win.
Santo made five changes in an experimental line-up – and three more at half-time – before his chaotic 19th-placed team were booed off at the end of the 0-2 thrashing by Brentford.
The former Wolves, Spurs and Forest manager said his biggest concern was losing so many “individual duels” against their London rivals. “We have to win our own battles individually, so I’m concerned about that,” he said.
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After one point from his first three games, Santo takes his team to Leeds on Friday to face one of the three promoted teams above them in the Premier League table. It promises to be no place for the faint hearted.
With seventh-placed Sunderland already 10 points clear of the Hammers, one established team such as West Ham, Wolves or Forest are in serious danger of going down this season.
Finishing above Leeds and Burnley is a minimum requirement.
Speaking about Friday night under the Elland Road lights, Santo said: “The good thing is it’s coming soon. It’s coming fast in four days’ time. And we have to show another situation, another face, if you want, of ourselves. We must improve so many things.”
He is backed by stats. West Ham have lost five successive top flight home games for the first time since 1931 – and gone from UEFA Conference League winners to relegation candidates in a little over two years. Brentford had 22 shots, hit the woodwork twice and Igor Thiago had a goal disallowed by a marginal VAR offside call. West Ham had one shot on target.
Germany striker Nicolas Fullkrug will again be missing on Friday with a thigh strain and Santo deployed Lucas Paqueta as a false nine against Brentford among five changes. He brought on three defenders and switched to a back five after the break but his side were second best.
Nuno has philosophised about finding the ‘West Ham Way” and a team identity since arriving last month
But the Portuguese said: “It’s very far, it’s very far, from what all of us want, but we have to insist and commit ourselves to achieve it.”
Santo admitted he was “concerned” about the performance like the fans in the London Stadium. “This concern becomes a silence, silence becomes an anxiety, and we have a problem,” he said. “It’s up to us to change this.”
Scotland midfielder Andy Irving, who made his first home start after over two years at the club, said: “I think mentally we can be better. And I think maybe our issue sometimes is that we want to play nice football and get the ball forward and link up. “We’ve got another game on Friday night, so we’ve got four days to prepare for that,” he continued. “We need to go out there and put in a much better performance.”
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