Though Nuno Espirito Santo has made it his mission to fix West Ham United’s defensive issues, the former Wolves, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest boss will hope to bring about change at the other end too.
Only two games into his tenure and, despite drawing one and losing the other, Nuno can see signs of West Ham progress already.
That Arsenal – the Premier League’s most formidable set-piece side – barely threatened to score a corner-kick goal against a team that had conceded eight in just six top-flight matches, he felt, was an early marker of their good work on the training ground.
Nuno is determined to make West Ham United more solid. That Max Kilman credited Graham Potter’s replacement for teaching him all he knows at Wolves, and after the much-maligned Konstantinos Mavropanos got the better of Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres at the Emirates, the Hammers can go into Monday’s clash with Brentford with a renewed sense of togetherness and discipline.
It is at the other end of the pitch, however, where major improvements are still to be seen.
Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen bring ‘magic’ to the table, while El Hadji Malick Diouf and Lucas Paqueta can pull rabbits out of hats themselves. But at centre-forward, Nuno can only dream of a striker capable of matching Chris Wood’s 2024/25 tally of 20, or emulating the all-round brilliance of Raul Jimenez at Molineux.
Nuno Espirito Santo eyes Nottingham Forest reunion with Chris Wood again at West Ham United
Hammers News have been told that Nuno could look to reunite with Chris Wood, should Nottingham Forest be open to January offers. Wood, like the rest of the Forest side, have struggled badly since the ill-fated and always-doomed appointment of Ange Postecoglou.
Yet, it speaks volumes about Postecoglou’s dreadful start and the frenetic short-termism of owner Evangelos Marinakis that Forest could be onto their third manager of the season by the time 2026 rolls around.
BBC Sport reported over the weekend that Sean Dyche has been lined up to succeed Postecoglou already. Now, this is not only a rather damning indictment of that Marinakis-fuelled implosion, but also far from good news for Nuno and West Ham.
Only Sam Vokes has registered more goals under Dyche than Wood has. Netting 53 times in 165 games together at Burnley. It almost goes without saying then that, if Dyche is selected in a rather desperate attempt to sort through the rubble of a kingdom knocked down by Marinakis, then Wood will be the first he picks to help out.
Burnley legend Sean Dyche explained Wood revival under Nuno
As recently as December 2024, shortly before he was let go by Everton, the gravel-voiced gaffer applauded the work Nuno had done alongside Wood at Nottingham Forest.
While the New Zealand veteran broke double figures in four successive Premier League campaigns under Dyche, it was under Nuno where he hit 20 for the first time.
“I have been impressed by what [Nuno] has been doing. [Forest are] very organised, working on the counter, and break and defend well. They’ve done that very well,” Dyche said, highlighting the qualities Nuno now hopes to bring to West Ham.
“They’ve brought to life Woody, who I know well. And the goals he’s been scoring…
“[Wood has improved due to] his maturity in the game, his knowledge of the game. He’s got a different format they’re working to there which seems to be to his liking. He’s got wide players, they’ve got a strength behind them, and they get the ball up to him quickly.
“That seems to be a thing that’s good for him and not massively dissimilar to what we were trying to achieve at Burnley. Certainly a very good player, and someone I’ve got a lot of respect for.”
What Chris Wood would bring to West Ham
Ahead of the resumption of the Premier League campaign this weekend, West Ham will be without Niclas Fullkrug due to yet another injury. This leaves 33-year-old Callum Wilson and the exciting-but-untested Callum Marshall as Nuno’s only centre-forward options.
One-time Newcastle, Leeds and West Brom targetman Chris Wood describes himself as a ‘pure number nine’, meanwhile. Something of a throwback centre-forward. One who, while far from as one-dimensional as some may suggest, is at his best when supplied with quality service.
The sort of service he could get at West Ham, from Paqueta to Bowen and particularly Diouf.
“I think Erling [Haaland] has probably had a had a bigger hand in that since he’s stepped into the Premier League, doing so well as a number nine,” Wood tells TNT Sport.
“Just trying to bring back what was very fashionable back when I was coming through as a youngster. The two biggest [idols of mine] were Didier Drogba and Alan Shearer. Both pure number nines and goalscoring talents.
“[From them, I learned] mostly how to put the ball in the back of the net, trying to emulate what they do because they were extremely good at it.
“[I wanted to emulate them and] make sure to try and be a complete player, both holding the ball up for the team and then delivering chances or scoring the chances when supplied.”
