{"id":428231,"date":"2026-02-16T06:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/428231\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:17:13","slug":"if-we-play-like-this-well-be-ok-mateus-fernandes-relays-nunos-message-to-west-ham-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/428231\/","title":{"rendered":"‘If we play like this, we’ll be OK’ \u2013 Mateus Fernandes relays Nuno\u2019s message to West Ham squad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

West Ham United made FA Cup progress by beating Burton Albion on\u00a0Saturday\u00a0but ensuring Premier League survival surely\u00a0remains\u00a0Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s\u00a0priority.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, West Ham United<\/a> \u2013 despite a recent uplift in form \u2013 remain in the relegation zone in the Premier League table<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though the Hammers are one of the form teams in the Premier League<\/a> as things stand, the fact is that they are still three points off Nottingham Forest and thereby safety with just 12 matches to play.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

How many points will be needed to keep us up this season?! \ud83e\udd14 <\/p>\n

\"ACredit: Getty Images\/Rob Newell \u2013 CameraSport <\/p>\n

Unless Nuno<\/a> can bridge that gap, the Irons are going down into the Championship for the first time since the 2011\/12 season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Star midfielder Mateus Fernandes<\/a>, however, has revealed a message from the West Ham coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking in the immediate wake of West Ham\u2019s draw with Manchester United, Fernandes\u00a0said\u00a0(via West Ham\u2019s official website<\/a>): \u201cThe first thing he\u00a0[Nuno]\u00a0said after the game was\u00a0\u2018if we play like this, we\u2019ll be OK in the Premier League\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

West Ham played very well against Manchester United<\/a>, who were in fine fettle themselves. If they can replicate that going forward, then relegation worries may soon be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

\"WestPhoto by Rob Newell \u2013 CameraSport via Getty ImagesWest Ham United\u2019s chances of staying up significantly boosted by historical precedent <\/p>\n

Though the club have been a fixture in the Premier League for well over a decade now, they have not been without their struggles in the top flight. <\/p>\n

Relegated twice since the advent of the Premier League as a competition in 1992, Hammers fans will sadly be familiar with this kind of situation. <\/p>\n

The good news is that, historically, the Irons have pulled themselves out of the mire before. <\/p>\n

In the five seasons that West Ham have recorded as few as 24 points after 26 games, they have stayed up three times. <\/p>\n

In three separate campaigns (2006\/07, 2019\/20 and 2022\/23), West Ham have taken 15 points or more in their last 12 Premier League games. If they were to do that this time around \u2013 and recent form suggests they could \u2013 they would finish on 39 points, which has been enough to stay up for a while now. <\/p>\n

How do these appointments make you feel about the relegation battle? \ud83d\udc40 <\/p>\n

\"ACredit: Getty Images\/Marc Atkins\/Jose Breton\/Pics Action\/NurPhoto West Ham United are scaring Nottingham Forest in the relegation battle <\/p>\n

Forest sacked Sean Dyche because they are wary of West Ham\u2019s form<\/a>, with the Irons having won three of their last five Premier League games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over that period, they sit fourth in the form table. <\/p>\n

The idea of Nuno, who was sacked by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis in September, keeping West Ham up at their expense would be hugely embarrassing. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s something that reportedly played into Forest\u2019s thinking when they decided to sack Dyche earlier this week. <\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add as preferred source on Google West Ham United made FA Cup progress by beating Burton Albion on\u00a0Saturday\u00a0but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,35944,45733,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-428231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mateus-fernandes","10":"tag-nuno-espirito-santo","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}