That insipid Brentford defeat on Monday night shone a light on one of many problems Nuno Espirito Santo faces at West Ham United. A Lucas Paqueta-shaped issue which is becoming impossible to ignore.
In fact, in a worrying turn of events, the Brazil international performed far better under Graham Potter than he has under his London Stadium successor thus far.
Lucas Paqueta was one of very few West Ham United players who could look back on his start to the season with some semblance of pride. Paqueta even scored in four successive games for club and country between the end of August and mid-September.
Eight games have come and gone since then, however, without the club’s number ten registering even a single goal contribution.
Paqueta was anonymous against Brentford, too. And while Nuno Espirito Santo feels that the ex-AC Milan ace is suffering the after-effects of that two-year spot-fixing investigation, he also accepts that a solution must be found sooner rather than later.
Preferably, ahead of Friday’s trip to Elland Road.
Nuno Espirito Santo shares West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta plan
Nuno knows that West Ham have ‘big problems’ when it comes to defending set-pieces and, well, defending full stop.
That Brentford defeat followed in a similar vein to the 2-0 loss at Arsenal before the international break, though. A team camped on the edge of their own penalty area, unable to break free and lacking any sort of an outlet in possession.
While that was maybe forgivable away to title-challengers Arsenal, such a gulf in quality really shouldn’t have existed against a Brentford side who lost their talismanic head coach Thomas Frank, star forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, plus captain Christian Norgaard.
“We are working. Repeat, repeat, repeat, and then try and put it in the game. It’s not only [about fixing] the set-pieces, being solid or compact, it’s about improving overall,” Nuno says during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“Offensively, we didn’t do enough against Brentford. We must have the freedom to go and really attack. Finding the balance is hard, but I am positive.”
It was put to Nuno that West Ham may have to improve to get the best out of their most mercurial talent. But the former Wolves, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest boss sees things from a different perspective.
“Maybe it’s the other way around, we have to improve Lucas,” he adds. “We have to improve Lucas, to get the best out of him. He can do it, but he has to improve because I think we have the pieces to take the best out of Lucas.”
Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville would benefit from a peak-level Paqueta
Nuno already has the beginnings of a plan in place. Getting the ball to Paqueta, in the areas where he is most effective, is key. This may mean Paqueta is instructed to stay further forward rather than drop back to pick up possession, with West Ham’s deeper-lying midfielders tasked with feeding him in more advanced positions.
Given that Nuno turned Morgan Gibbs-White into one of the Premier League’s most effective number tens at Nottingham Forest, there is no reason to think he cannot repeat the trick in East London.
He highlights how getting Paqueta where he is most comfortable could, in turn, create openings for the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville.
Nuno spoke of Summerville’s importance last week, and why West Ham need to create situations where he is one-v-one against opposition full-backs. This is something he is keen to work on for Bowen’s benefit, too.
“We have speed in front, so let’s try and find solutions so Lucas can deliver all the good things that he has,” Nuno adds.
“Jarrod is not a player who drops and drives the ball [forward]. We must get the ball there [in his favoured positions in attack], so he can do it. The same as Lucas.
“Which are the areas that Lucas can have an impact on the game? Where can Jarrod have an impact on the game?”
That Brentford clash was Paqueta’s 100th appearance in the Premier League. In that time, he has scored just 14 goals while producing a measly nine assists. A poor return, certainly, for a man of his talents.
“I think, looking backwards at previous eras, Lucas’s importance to the team was tremendous. It was tremendous,” Nuno said in an interview with DAZN Portugal.
“There are clearly the off-field factors which have not helped. I think there was too much noise around him, that now we have to calm down and ignore.
“We will surely make the best of Lucas. Definitely, yes.”
