Nuno has had a positive start to life at West Ham, but now more than ever, it’s vital that we don’t panic and we trust him to continue steering us in the right direction.
I say this during a patch of tough fixtures, at a time that feels somewhat like a crossroads; with the opportunity to either climb the table, or drop firmly into the relegation zone. While there is everything to play for, there is a lot of fear and uncertainty amongst fans. We’ve been hurt by recent head coaches, so naturally, any signs of poor substitutions, or defensive setups makes us panic. Simply put, being a West Ham fan has given us all trust issues. But playing Devil’s advocate, are we expecting too much, too soon?
Glimpses of Improvement: Evaluating Recent Form
Nuno’s recent results have been a clear improvement, picking up seven points in three games against Newcastle, Burnley and Bournemouth. The performances may not have been overly impressive, and there were certainly very nervy patches, but I think it’s important that we don’t underestimate the size of the project that Nuno has taken on.
At the start of the season, we were certain we were getting relegated. There was nowhere to find hope, with underperforming players, a complete lack of confidence and no direction. To get to a point where we can pick up points from here is impressive and gives me faith that Nuno is the right man for the job. But the next step is to keep building momentum.
The Squad Selection Dilemma
As all fans do, I want immediate results and noticeable improvements every week. But realistically, Nuno is learning too and needs to turn around countless issues amongst the team. Nuno has received a lot of criticism for his squad selection, particularly when substitutions led to us drawing with Bournemouth, essentially throwing away a 2-0 lead.
But taking all emotion out of my opinion, he does have to try different things and we’ve already seen Potts and Summerville struggle with the number of minutes they’ve been playing. Should we be able to set up defensively? Yes. Should we be able to make substitutions to rest players and allow for squad rotation? Absolutely. Yet we find ourselves in a situation where we have no room for error and very little aside from our starting XI to get results with. And this puts Nuno in a difficult situation, particularly until reinforcements can arrive in January.
Tactical Flexibility and the Midfield Anchor
The one thing I would say is that he seems to try an idea once or twice and if it doesn’t work, he does make the change. We saw this with his choice of defensive midfielders, and once he found the Potts and Fernandes combo, he kept it like that.
Is it hard as fans to watch on as another head coach tries something that we’ve seen fail before? Of course it is, but with the right work behind the scenes, we may eventually get to a point where some of these tactics can actually become effective for us again. We know that Nuno has taken on a side with countless challenges and all of these will take time to fix.
The Spark Re-Ignited: A Long-Term Vision
We won’t stop defenders switching off overnight and certainly won’t learn to link up overnight, but I’m happy that we’re seeing glimpses of improvement, even if there are some ups and downs along the way. We’re scoring goals, we have ways to create pace in midfield again and we’ve even started creating fast passages of play to catch the opposition off guard.
It might not be consistent yet, but it’s these glimpses of good gameplay that give me hope, and hopefully give the players confidence. Can we continue to improve? Only time will tell, but for me, Nuno is the best option to reignite the spark in West Ham players and push us higher up the table.
Be the first to comment