It started with a sucker punch. Then came another, before a third blow that left West Ham United head coach Nuno Espirito Santo reeling and only sporadically rising from his seat in the dugout as he watched his side capitulate.
The only thing missing from West Ham’s bench on Saturday was a white towel to throw in surrender during Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers. Goals in the space of 37 minutes from Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Mateus Mane sealed Wolves’ first win, and clean sheet, of this Premier League season.
West Ham have conceded 41 goals in the league in the campaign so far, the highest total in the division and their most after 20 games in a top-flight season since 44 in 1965-66. Even with Rob Edwards’ home side propping up the league and already near-certainties for relegation at 12 points from safety, they showed more fight and desire than their guests from east London.
Two of Wolves’ three victories in all competitions this season have come against West Ham, including a Carabao Cup tie back in August. It is why the home fans chorused, “Can we play you every week?” yesterday.
In this chastening encounter, West Ham were as disinterested, disjointed and toothless as in their previous defeat against Fulham last weekend. Forget a glove, they failed to lay a feather on their opponents, not even registering a shot on target against the weakest team in the top flight. You felt Nuno’s players might have produced more sweat jogging off the pitch at the end than over the duration of the match itself.
West Ham have not won a league game since beating Burnley in November and now host fellow relegation candidates Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night. Frustration and anger gripped the away enclosure yesterday as Tomas Soucek, Ollie Scarles, Kyle Walker-Peters and Crysencio Summerville looked on. As for Nuno, after the final whistle, the head coach forlornly walked down the tunnel, failing to commit to his usual away tradition of applauding the travelling supporters.
“A lot of things went wrong today,” the former Wolves boss admitted in the post-match interview about his current team’s display. “We started the game badly, we made mistakes, we conceded, and we didn’t react. It was a very poor performance. I have to apologise to the fans. I have to apologise. We have to apologise to the fans. Those that travelled today, (our performance) was embarrassing. There’s not much I can say other than we are sorry. We are sorry, because what we showed today was not good enough.
“Personally, I didn’t expect this performance. We have recently been playing good — not achieving results, but always being in the game. Today was the worst performance that we’ve had. We needed much more from our players. The way we started and the way we performed was very poor. It was embarrassing. I don’t recall a day that I’ve felt so bad on a football pitch like today.”
West Ham have not won a Premier League game since November 8 (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Since succeeding Graham Potter in late September, Nuno has overseen just two wins in 15 league games, losing eight times.
In West Ham’s past three-and-a-half months, there have been left-backs playing as right-backs, right-backs playing as left-backs, a reluctance to field a striker in defeats by Brentford and Leeds United, the inclusion of periphery figure Guido Rodriguez in the 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, no new manager bounce, more apologies than wins, the frequent selection of out-of-form defender Maximilian Kilman and an acceleration of angst over the club’s sharp and seemingly inexorable decline.
Nuno, who was unable to bring his trusted backroom team with him from previous employers Forest when he replaced Potter, is already facing questions about his future three-and-a-half months into a three-year contract.
“I think it’s not about my future, it’s about how can we get out of this situation,” he added. “‘How can we improve and get the results that will make us climb the table?’ This is what we are concerned about. Now is the moment to reflect, to think, to speak among ourselves and see if we are strong enough to solve it. Of course (we have the desire and determination), of course we have. But we need to change many things. It’s not about words. Today is a tough day for everybody.”
Nuno’s impassioned plea felt as impactful as his team’s attack, but he is not the sole cause of West Ham’s current plight.
If the hierarchy opt to make another managerial change now, the rest of the club will remain the same. There were chants of “Sack the board” in the 16th minute against Wolves, and last week a photo of a banner hung on the gates of majority shareholder David Sullivan’s house was uploaded on social media, urging the 76-year-old to sell up. There have also been boycotts and fan protests.
West Ham fans react to their side’s capitulation at Wolves (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Dejection among the fanbase is heightened by the club’s apparent inability to make correct decisions.
Tim Steidten was sacked as technical director in February due to his poor recruitment and was banned from the training ground by successive managers/head coaches in David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui — while the scattergun approach of hiring and firing managers has quickened West Ham’s potential demotion to the Championship for the first time since 2010-11. It will be four leaders in 12 months if the hierarchy decide Nuno’s time is up in the wake of this latest defeat.
But there is a recurring theme with West Ham’s appointments.
They courted Lopetegui before announcing Moyes’ contract would not be renewed. Ruben Amorim, now head coach of Manchester United, was invited over from Portugal to London for a chat. Lopetegui was jettisoned after 22 games, but not before successor Potter was pictured chatting with Steidten in a hotel foyer. Potter then suffered the same fate as Nuno was photographed at Lot 14, a restaurant near Sullivan’s house. Nuno was hired ahead of a return for Slaven Bilic, who managed West Ham between 2015-17. The Croatian would be interested in the role if it becomes available again.
Meanwhile, the current mess will only ease once West Ham learn how to win again.
Before kick-off on Saturday, there was an added incentive with Forest losing 3-1 at Aston Villa in the early game. That hope lasted just four minutes before Arias scored the hosts’ opener. It was the first time in 12 league games that Wolves had even taken the lead, the third longest run the 33-year Premier League era has ever seen.
To add to West Ham’s woes, the Molineux faithful chanted, “You’re nothing special, we’ll see you next year”, suggesting both these teams are bound for relegation in May.
They could well be right.