Upton Park icon Tony Cottee was ‘fearing the worst’ even before West Ham United vs Brentford kicked-off in the Premier League’s Monday night fixture.
He was not the only one.
Nuno made five changes to the West Ham XI from that defeat by Arsenal before the international break. That was no bad thing, in theory. The Hammers were extremely poor at the Emirates after all, particularly from an attacking perspective.
But the sight of Andy Irving and Ollie Scarles starting ahead of Freddie Potts and El Hadji Malick Diouf meant West Ham fans were questioning Nuno’s team selection as far back as 75 minutes before proceedings got underway at the London Stadium.
As for the introduction of Guido Rodriguez with around half an hour to go, well, the reaction from the stands said more than words ever could.
Cottee, meanwhile, could not see the logic in Nuno bringing Jean-Clair Todibo back from the West Ham United wilderness. Or, indeed, leaving Callum Wilson and Callum Marshall on the bench, with Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville and Lucas Paqueta operating through the middle at times.
The sight of long balls being launched desperately in their direction – serving only to gift possession back to their dominant visitors – was just one of many baffling developments on a miserable evening.
Tony Cottee explains three ‘awful’ Nuno Espirito Santo mistakes in West Ham United loss
Cottee’s pre-match concern would, of course, prove to be pretty prescient.
Alongside James Ward-Prowse, Jean-Clair Todibo appeared done under Nuno. He had been left out of the matchday squad entirely for three of the previous four matches, including two under Graham Potter’s replacement.
Yet, for whatever reason, Todibo was back in the XI. On last night’s evidence, it should be some time before he appears on the team sheet again, although alternatives are few and far between as Nuno confirms an injury to Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Mavropanos appears certain to miss Friday’s trip to Leeds.
“Just seen the team,” Cottee wrote on X as the news of an experimental and optimism-bursting XI filtered through. “No centre-forward again, Todibo at centre-half, no Diouf…”
Todibo was part of a backline pulled from pillar to post by Brentford during a first half in which the Bees mustered 15 attempts on goal. Only a tight offside call denied Igor Thiago a second, and Brentford a 2-0 lead at the interval.
Jamie Carragher blamed Max Kilman for Thiago’s opener on 43 minutes. Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters were bizarrely fielded on the ‘wrong’ flanks, meanwhile. An experiment Nuno was quick to end with a triple half-time change.
“Defensively, we look all over the place. Lucky not to be 3-0 down,” Cottee added as the game progressed and an already poor display got worse by the minute.
“Message to Nuno; Football is a simple game. Play your best players in their best positions! Really poor performance but the team selection was awful.
“Things need to be sorted out and quickly.”
Nuno made three half-time changes with Mateus Fernandes hauled off
Of the ten outfield players who started against Brentford, arguably only five started in their favoured positions.
To think, it was presumed that the odd team selections which became increasingly common towards the end of the Potter era would be a thing of the past once West Ham hired a proven Premier League operator with a track record for creating teams far better than the sum of their parts.
“A disappointing evening,” Nuno said as his wait for a first Hammers win goes on. “It was a disappointing performance. It was not good enough.
“I think we had a good spell, the first 15, 20 minutes. After that, we got ourselves in trouble. Brentford were aggressive, physical, set-pieces that we couldn’t manage. Until the end of the first-half, it was difficult.
“It is one of the things that we have to realise, if we win individual duels, we can maybe win the match. But today Brentford were the winners.”
Walker-Peters, Scarles and Mateus Fernandes were hauled off at half-time, as Nuno shifted to a back-three. The die was cast by then, however, and the tide destined to go un-turned.
“We tried to solve the fragility which we were having just before VAR took a goal off for Brentford,” Nuno explains. “[I thought, with the substitutions] ‘let’s try to close [them] down and stay in the game’.
“It was our main intention.”
