It was inevitable, when facing the media ahead of West Ham United’s trip to Premier League newcomers Leeds on Friday night, that Nuno Espirito Santo would be quizzed on the omission of Callum Wilson against Brentford.
Because while many West Ham fans took issue with Nuno after he left both Freddie Potts and Soungoutou Magassa on the bench – Andy Irving and Guido Rodriguez chosen ahead of them – that the club’s number nine also remained on the sidelines also spawned plenty of puzzled faces.
For the second game in a row, Nuno chose to bring on Callum Marshall ahead of a centre-forward just 11 shy of a century of Premier League goals.
In fact, Callum Wilson is yet to play a single minute since Graham Potter was replaced in the West Ham United dugout. Will that change when the Hammers travel to South Yorkshire for matchday nine’s curtain raiser away to Leeds?
And what of Jean-Clair Todibo, the defender brought back into the team with disastrous results last time out.
Nuno Espirito Santo issues Callum Wilson response as West Ham United prepare for Leeds
Speaking at his press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Nuno insists that a decision will be made on West Ham’s striking options over the next 24 hours or so.
West Ham are likely to be without Niclas Fullkrug again. While Nuno appeared to instruct Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville to alternate as part of a mobile front three against Brentford, the Hammers looked like a team crying out for a physical presence up top.
Wilson is the player most capable of providing that, even if he lacks the speed of Marshall or the rambunctiousness of Bowen.
“[Wilson] is working well, all the players are working well,” Nuno says. “It is up to us to take the decisions in the right moments.
“Tomorrow, we are going to prepare the game.”
In the case of a certain French centre-back, while Todibo looked done at West Ham following his omission against both Everton and Arsenal, Nuno now puts that down to the effects of a recent injury. The £35 million signing from Nice will be available to start at Leeds, alongside another recent returnee in Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
“Some of [the players] have physical problems,” Nuno adds while confirming that Konstantinos Mavropanos will not be available on Friday.
“But the rest, like ‘JC’ [Todibo] for example, were out for a couple of weeks. Now, he is coming back, like Aaron
“All the players are options for us, as long as they are healthy, and we need them.”
Tony Cottee urges Nuno to go back to basics
Both Todibo and Max Kilman endured miserable evenings up against Brentford’s fearsome front two of Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago. Mavropanos’ physicality could have come in very handy from the start. Now that he has been ruled out, Todibo looks destined to face another serious test of his aerial ability up against Leeds’ sky-scraping centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Whoever starts at the back, West Ham legend Tony Cottee is just urging Nuno to go back to basics. Pick your best players, in their most effective roles, and keep things simple.
“No centre-forward again, Todibo at centre-half, no [El Hadji Malick] Diouf…” Cottee wrote on X as an experimental line up exploded in Nuno’s face. “Defensively, we look all over the place.
“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.”
