Why West Ham can survive and then thrive after appointing Nuno Espirito Santo as manager
Nuno Espirito Santo has replaced Graham Potter as West Ham manager
West Ham United have named Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach after sacking Graham Potter.
It’s a decision most saw coming at some stage after West Ham fans began chanting for Potter to be sacked and when social media users randomly decided to start superimposing his face onto various different people on social media.
However, the timing it has to be said seems very abrupt and will likely leave a sour taste for Potter, who had been preparing for Monday's game against Everton throughout most of the week. On Friday, his comments seemed to suggest he had been left in the dark about his impending fate; he told reporters at the time that he still believed he had the board's backing after "positive talks" in mid-week.
Ultimately, Potter never seemed like quite the right fit for West Ham. He struggled towards the end of last season after replacing Julen Lopetegui and never really had anything resembling a new manager bounce as the team slumped to 14th with a tally of just 43 points - their joint second lowest finish since suffering relegation in 2011.
Overall, Potter won just six of his 25 matches across all competitions, giving him a 24% win percentage, which is the lowest of any Hammers manager in history. Bizarrely, his final win, a 3-0 triumph in August, was the one that condemned his successor Nuno to the sack at Nottingham Forest. But why did it go so wrong for Potter at West Ham and is Nuno the right man to replace him?
What went wrong for Graham Potter at West Ham?
Graham Potter’s managerial stock has dropped significantly over the last three years. Almost three years ago, he was headhunted to become the replacement of Champions League winner Thomas Tuchel in the Chelsea dugout after leading Brighton to their highest-ever league finish in the previous season.
Potter was seen as a skilled operator in the transfer window, a forward-thinking coach that had built his way up from coaching at university level all the way to the Premier League. Crucially his teams were almost always perceived to play exciting football as well which meant he ticked a lot of boxes in people's minds.
Many England fans were disappointed to learn of his decision to join Chelsea at the time, as he had also been earmarked by many experts to be the ideal replacement for Gareth Southgate in the Wembley dugout, which feels fairly ironic given that Tuchel now finds himself in that exact position.
Potter’s time at Chelsea was a disaster but many felt it was just too big a jump too soon in his career. Many also criticised the ownership model at the time and the revolving door of incomings and outgoings which prevented the team from really gelling and becoming a cohesive unit in that particular season.
However, after his struggles at West Ham, it now appears unlikely that Potter’s next job will be one in the top division of England. Ultimately, his biggest failure at the London Stadium was results, with the team picking up 23 points in just 23 matches during his tenure across 15 months. They scored 27 in this period and shipped 36 while often struggling at home - failing to pick up any wins in his final eight matches.
Potter had a poor time at West Ham and it’s fair to say the team looked a shadow of what they were during the peak of David Moyes tenure. But the blame not only lies with Potter and Lopetegui before him, but also with the board of directors, who gave Potter limited funds to shape the team in the way he wanted whilst also offloading one of their prize talents in Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham.
Why Nuno Espirito Santo is the perfect fit for West Ham
Nuno Espirito Santo’s appointment sees West Ham shift back to a more pragmatic coach, with an emphasis on defending deep and hitting teams on the break with pace. In many ways it’s similar to the style of David Moyes, who while dividing opinion at times, led the Hammers to three consecutive campaigns in Europe, a Europa League semi-final and most important a Conference League triumph - marking their first major honour since winning the FA Cup in 1980.
Moyes led West Ham from a relegation dogfight to Europe and that’s exactly what Nuno is also credited with doing with Nottingham Forest in his last job, which ultimately ended due to matters of the pitch and his relationship with the owner rather than results.When Nuno arrived at Forest, they were 17th in the table, just five points above the drop zone in December and had just one win in their last 13 matches. He quickly steered them to safety, with the team finishing 17th and six clear of safety despite a four-point deduction.The following campaign, he led Forest to seventh, an FA Cup semi-final and achieved 65 points, which was more than double what they had managed to achieve in their previous season.
The Tricky Trees only conceded 46 all season, 21 less than they had shipped the year before. This solidity at the back is something West Ham certainly need. At the moment their a team that lack organisation, conceding 13 times in five matches. However, in Nuno they have a coach that’s already proven he can get the best out of Max Kilman, having worked with him before at Molineux while it’s likely Potter will also be able to get more out of a number of other underperforming players in the team’s backline.
West Ham also have players that can be utilised on the counter attack such as starman Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville while they also have powerful strikers with similar qualities to Chris Wood in terms of physicality like Callum Wilson and Niclas Füllkrug, who could be better utilised in Nuno’s system.
Overall, it’s an appointment that makes a lot of sense and could well be the difference between the club staying up or going down this term. For now his remit will very much be surviving but there’s no doubt based on his track record he could be the man to get them thriving in the long-run if backed properly in the transfer window.