The Nuno Purge: Why James Ward-Prowse has played his last game for West Ham

Exit Stage Left: Nuno’s First Bold Decision

James Ward-Prowse was a favourite of Graham Potter, to the point where fans became incredibly frustrated by Potter’s refusal to drop him, despite a series of sub-par performances. Ward-Prowse played all five Premier League games under Potter this season, and one League Cup game – no goals, no assists. But it was more the manner of his play – slow, ponderous, with lots of sideways and backwards passing that frustrated. Enter Nuno Espirito-Santo, and exit James Ward-Prowse stage left, much to the relief of many fans. It was almost Nuno’s first act as West Ham manager: “It’s a tough decision; we make decisions looking for the best options for the game. James is not involved, we had a chat, I think he understands it.” A bold move, and one that many of us wanted to see. That said, is Ward-Prowse really a worse option than Irving or Rodriguez? We know Nuno wasn’t impressed by Ward-Prowse when he was on loan at Forest, but banishing him from the squad seems extreme. Ward-Prowse was vice-captain under Potter, and is a well-liked member of the squad, but it seems that his playing time at West Ham, at least under the current manager, has come to an end.

The Professional vs. The Inevitable January Exit

Ward-Prowse appears to be the consummate professional, he’ll either wait it out until the next manager arrives, or look to move on in January. Either way, it appears there is no way back for him under Nuno. I’m not sure Ward-Prowse would have made much difference, I am not sure what he offers the team, as even his set piece delivery has massively dropped off. Long-term, I think the midfield two will be made up of two of Fernandes, Potts and Magassa. Whether we can get a decent fee for Ward-Prowse in January and reinvest in the midfield, remains to be seen. Whatever the results, though, it appears James Ward-Prowse may have played his last game in a West Ham shirt. Let’s hope we can claw back some of the £30 million we paid for him.

The Return of Wilson: Clearing Up Conspiracy Theories

At the moment, Nuno is changing his teams around and appears to be experimenting, we saw some awful selections against Brentford and Leeds. The line-ups for Newcastle and Burnley were much better – Potts/Fernandes in midfield, Soucek and Irving benched. Wilson also started, which was another previous selection which was questionable – Paqueta or Bowen playing in a false nine, just doesn’t work. Paqueta is a 10, and Bowen has proved time and again that he is a better winger than forward. Wilson’s lack of starts led to people questioning why he was being benched, and we were playing no striker while being in dire need of goals. Nuno Espírito-Santo denied claims that he was ignoring Callum Wilson due to cost, stating he would never freeze out a player for financial reasons. He emphasised that his decision not to play Wilson before the games against Newcastle and Burnley was a tactical one, not motivated by the player’s incentive-based contract. Santo said that he believes Wilson is an important player for West Ham, saying, “Oh, please. Come on, eh?” and that he would never make such a decision. He also explained that the choice to not play Wilson was simply a matter of his selection decision at the time. To be fair, Newcastle fans questioned Wilson’s loss of pace, and his ability to last a full 90 minutes. Wilson played against Newcastle and Burnley, so I think we can discount any conspiracy theories there. It is concerning that Nuno basically threw the games against Brentford and Leeds with his line-ups. A focal point, i.e., Wilson, would have been beneficially against both.

The Urgency for a Defined Line-Up

Despite Wilson’s recent starts, goal and performances, we are still missing a good, starting centre forward, something even the board appear to be accepting now. We know that we need a striker and a centre back, and we know that January is a tough time to recruit, particularly when your football club is owned by David “or else we’ll loan a player from PSG” Sullivan. It is early in Nuno’s tenure at West Ham, and the fact that he has tinkered with his teams, makes it a challenge to know his preferred line up. What we do know is that James Ward-Prowse is not even in his preferred squad. I think fans can get behind bold decisions like that, but if we continue to lose, every decision the manager makes will be picked apart, by fans and media alike.