David Moyes has delivered a verdict on new manager Nuno Espirito Santo at West Ham which will have supporters buzzing.
The Scot’s claim about Nuno Espirito Santo is seriously exciting — and it offers a big hint about what lies ahead for the Hammers under their new boss.
There are few former West Ham managers who command the same level of respect from Hammers fans as David Moyes.
Nuno is West Ham’s third attempt at finding a manager who can take the club on following Moyes’ exit just 15 months ago.
The Irons have done something pretty unprecedented by handing the Portuguese a three-year deal at the London stadium – longer than any contracts ever offered to Moyes, Julen Lopetegui or the man he has just replaced, Graham Potter.
Nuno the latest to try and emulate Moyes at West Ham
Whether this is the West Ham board’s attempt at a longer-term fix to the on-field problems that have piled up during and since Moyes’ departure remains to be seen.
Results on the pitch will always ultimately dictate that of course – but at West Ham it goes a little bit deeper than that.
Some supporters were debating whether Nuno would be the right fit for the club when it became clear he would be replacing Potter.
There have been some concerns raised that the Hammers might revert back to a similar style of play to Moyes.
While the Scot is West Ham’s most successful manager of the modern era, his approach wore thin towards the end of his tenure – particularly when it stopped getting results.
West Ham fans who were unsure about Nuno pointed to the fact he favours a defensive, counter-attacking style like Moyes.
Although given the dismal attempts of Lopetegui and Potter to overhaul the identity of the team and the style of play, perhaps that is no bad thing.
It certainly wasn’t when the Hammers were reunited with Moyes at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.
And a Moyes claim about Nuno at West Ham is seriously exciting.
The former Wolves and Forest boss put some much-needed fire back in the bellies of West Ham’s players and fans with his words, team selection and tactics.
Moyes claim about Nuno at West Ham is seriously exciting
Supporters had already been impressed by Nuno’s first interview and were pleased when he ditched James Ward-Prowse from the team.
His focus on being hard to beat first was like a trip down memory lane to Moyes’ return to east London back in 2020.
But it was effective as the Hammers looked much more solid, together and dangerous on the break.
West Ham were unlucky not to win the game in the end and Nuno’s passion on the sidelines went down very well with the travelling Hammers fans.
Something unusual happened between Nuno and West Ham fans after the 1-1 draw at Everton, which came courtesy of the kind of lightning fast counter Forest had become known for under him.
‘Everton couldn’t live with Nuno’s West Ham tactics’ says Moyes
Since his departure from West Ham, classy Moyes has not had a bad word to say about the club.
That continued as he delivered an honest assessment of Monday’s match, admitting his side simply could not cope with Nuno’s tactics both in terms of defence and attack.
“We left ourselves open quite often to counter-attacks,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
“We never really were able to carve out a clear cut chance where we could get a finish… nothing which made me think we’d missed a really big chance.
“But look, we had to deal with quick counter attacks tonight and in the second half especially and it has cost us the goal…
“Look West Ham have got some really, really good players, some top players so to think we could come here and just roll them over is far from right…
“I thought they played well at times West Ham and made it difficult for us.”
Nuno-ball more exciting than turgid mess from predecessors
What refreshing honesty from Moyes to admit his side struggled to cope with Nuno’s tactics.
West Ham are clearly going to be more pragmatic under their new manager.
But they have been so vulnerable, naïve and open that it would be negligence not to get back to that approach until the club can emerge from this dark period.
The Everton game saw West Ham record their most shots, penalty box entries and crosses of the season so far.
Some of the counter-attacks were much more exciting than Lopetegui and Potter’s attempts to slowly build the play across the pitch.
There was a stage where counter-attacking football lost some of its effectiveness in the Premier League.
That’s why Moyes started struggling. But now even Pep Guardiola’s Man City are having to play that way.
So just because Nuno is going play in a similar way to Moyes doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting and dangerous going forward – as West Ham’s former manager has come out and said himself.
And you only have to take one look at Forest last season to know what Nuno is capable of getting out of a team.
