When the team news rolled in, as the West Ham United supporters not boycotting the opening minutes prepared to welcome Nuno Espirito Santo, it felt like a metaphorical pin in a pre-match balloon.
Talk about letting the air out.
You could give most West Ham United supporters ten goes at guessing Nuno Espirito Santo’s XI, and it still would not have involved Ollie Scarles at right-back, Kyle Walker-Peters on the left, Jean-Clair Todibo and Andy Irving through the middle, and the club’s only fit centre-forwards on the bench.
Scarles and Irving made their first starts of the 2025/26 Premier League season. Todibo was back in despite being left out of the squad for the last two. And, just to add to the confusion, Nuno would then leave a proven top-flight marksman in Callum Wilson on the sidelines while Guido Rodriguez entered the fray to audible derision.
It wasn’t so much boos or jeers which accompanied Rodriguez’s arrival with around 70 minutes on the clock during Monday’s eventual 2-0 defeat by Brentford. More like confusion. Like 50,000 or so people saying ‘huh?’ at exactly the same time.
Throughout all that, Freddie Potts didn’t even get a look in.
West Ham United fans question why Nuno Espirito Santo did not call on Freddie Potts
If Nuno Espirito Santo made a ‘brilliant decision’ introducing Potts during his debut 1-1 draw at Everton – an early victory, in the eyes of the supporters – this was precisely the opposite.
Nuno has spoken about embracing the ‘West Ham Way’ while promising to give plenty of chances to young players. And, while he did bring on 20-year-old Callum Marshall for another second-half cameo here, Potts surely deserved the chance to repeat what he did on Merseyside a few weeks earlier.
In short, giving West Ham the intensity, energy and positivity they were so clearly lacking.
Instead – £14 million summer signing Soungoutou Magassa also remained an unused substitute – Tomas Soucek was forced to drag his aching limbs across the turf as something of a one-man midfield before Rodriguez ambled through the final half-hour or so.
“Is it [Graham] Potter in the dugout? No Potts and Magassa when we don’t have any legs in midfield. Nice one, Nuno,” one frustrated supporter wrote on X.
“Imagine picking Irving, Soucek and Rodriguez over Potts and Magassa,” another agrees.
“How in that game are the three unused subs Magassa, Potts, and Wilson?”
“So many managers robbing a living. Mind-blowing choices from Nuno tonight. Starting XI wise and subs. Rodriguez and Irving got on the field over Magassa and Potts. Nuno lost the plot tonight.”
“In my eyes, that was diabolic selection. Two full-backs playing on the wrong sides, Rodriguez who [West Ham] wanted to offload picked ahead of Magassa and Potts.”
“Nuno’s selections all over the place. Starting Irvine, Kilman, Todibo, Scarles, insane. Leaving Potts on bench and bringing on the woeful Rodriguez, inexplicable.”
“Potts came on and changed the midfield scenario against Everton. How can Nuno not see that? And today, he doesn’t even get a look in?”
Nuno flops as Ruben Amorim succeeds at Manchester United
On a Premier League weekend in which Ruben Amorim silenced his critics at Manchester United – a much-criticised starting XI working wonders during that 2-1 victory over Liverpool – Nuno’s own experiment blew up in his face.
“Staggering how we started this game without a centre-forward from the off, and the fact likes of Magassa and Potts have not had a kick is simply baffling,” another fan writes. “Nuno has had a total shocker tonight.
“I see that Nuno has used Potts for the maximum of two cameo appearances, which each manager is allowed, and hence has to turn to Guido. That’s the only explanation as to why Potter never used him too. It’s in his contract to only be used twice per manager!”
