West Ham show signs of improvement as Nuno gets positive start
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo during the 1-1 Premier League draw with Everton.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON – New West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo saw signs in their 1-1 draw with Everton on Sept 29 that his side can turn things around after a dreadful start to the Premier League season, but there is still plenty of work to do.
His predecessor Graham Potter was sacked on the morning of Sept 27 and the Portuguese boss was ushered in to quickly take over, less than three weeks after his dismissal by Nottingham Forest.
He had little time to instil his usual defensively sound counter-attacking style, but whatever he did manage to do paid dividends in the draw on Merseyside.
“Our message today was very clearly about competing as a team, being close to each other, and the boys did well. I think overall it is a good first game for us,” said Nuno, 51. “This game is going to be the tool, the main tool, for us to move forward.
“Now we’re going to analyse it. It’s all about knowing the players better, trying to take the right decisions in the right moment.”
Much of that analysis will focus on strengthening West Ham’s defence at set pieces, as they went behind to a Michael Keane goal following a corner.
But Nuno saw plenty he can work with as his side pulled a goal back in the second half thanks to Jarrod Bowen to secure the draw.
“It's all about competing, every ball matters – the message was clear, and the boys are slowly, I think, understanding that football match is also about how we close (down the route to) our own goal, how many chances we concede,” he explained.
“We did a lot of good things. We competed well but there is a lot of work to be done. We started the second half on the front foot, the desire was there. We have to build on that.
“Now it is about keeping it simple and trying to give the boys a good identity. We will get there.”
It was only the second time in seven games in all competitions that West Ham had managed to escape without a loss.
The end goal will be to instil the well-drilled discipline that has previously been his signature in the Premier League during spells with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Forest.
“It's so difficult, it’s so hard, it takes so much time (to build a team) and our approach is simple – day by day, the best of us, the best of us every day,” Nuno added. REUTERS, AFP
