West Ham have been hard at work ahead of their next Premier League clash against Brentford — and there were plenty of talking points from training as Nuno Espirito Santo addressed his squad.
As boring as it might be for fans, the October international break may have come at the perfect time for Nuno Espirito Santo and his West Ham squad.
It means the new Hammers boss has two full uninterrupted weeks to work with the majority of his players, minus those away with their countries of course.
The truth has been clarified after Nuno made a shock West Ham announcement nobody expected on Saturday.
Now the build-up towards a huge clash with Brentford really comes into focus.
And footage from training has offered plenty of insight for eagle-eyed fans.
From an outcast showing real signs of life to every word Nuno said to his players, here are six big things spotted in West Ham training.
Midfield monster and silky star lead West Ham first team call-ups
With a host of players away on international duty, Nuno needs bodies to make up the numbers in training.
All eyes were on which Academy players would get the nod to join in with first team training.
And it is telling for those chosen given Mark Robson, Steve Potts and the other former Academy coaches have now stepped up to the first team full-time.
France midfield monster Mohamadou Kante has seriously impressed in his games for the Under 21s so far. There are shades of Mo Diame about the former Paris FC star as he rampages up and down the pitch.
Kante is one of those elevated to the first team along with his silky skilled midfield partner Preston Fearon – who looks fearless as always as he shows off his talent with a number of classy goals.
Fearon steals the show of the young stars getting the call-up as he and Kante are joined by the likes of Ezra Mayers and Emeka Adiele, as well as first team squad regulars Freddie Potts and Ollie Scarles.
Guilherme steals the show for Hammers
One player who West Ham could really do with kicking on is Luis Guilherme.
The young Brazilian winger arrived in a £20.5m deal last summer but has been restricted to cameo roles thus far.
Although his English is already very good, having a Portuguese-speaking manager appears to be working wonders for Guilherme if the training footage is anything to go by.
The winger is the standout player in the session, winning loud applause from teammates and praise from the manager.
Guilherme shows his skill and pace on multiple occasions in one-on-one drills with tiny goals.
Let’s hope the former Palmeiras star can burst into life under Nuno this season.
Magassa shows another side to his game
Hammers fans have really high hopes for Soungoutou Magassa.
The defensive midfielder, who can also play centre-back, has impressed so far but needs time to adjust to the demands and pace of the Premier League.
Magassa has already looked comfortable as the defensive shield and will only get better with time.
But in training he stood out by showing a totally different side to his game.
In small-sided matches, Magassa looked brilliant going forward, taking players on with skill and finishing with the finesse of a seasoned striker.
It shows there is much more to his game than simply breaking up play. West Ham could have a real player on their hands.
Signs of life from West Ham outcast Todibo
After clashing with both Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter and being omitted by Nuno from the squad to face Arsenal, many feel Jean-Clair Todibo is now all but done at West Ham.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Italian clubs are already circling to sign Todibo from the Hammers in January.
Nuno could think twice about outcast Todibo after an astonishing West Ham revelation.
Not only that, though, the £32m French defender has also shown signs of life in training having been accused of lacking effort by Potter before allegedly responding by turning up late the next day, prior to Nuno’s arrival.
It must be said Jean-Clair Todibo does not look happy at all in the footage from training.
But one passage of play shows he does have class as he takes on two players, changes direction and smashes home a lovely goal.
It will be interesting to see whether he is reintegrated back into the squad for the Brentford game.
If not then it really does look like curtains for his Hammers career.
Fullkrug injured and no sign of Summerville
As fans will know by now, West Ham striker Niclas Fullkrug has suffered yet another injury.
That is why the German striker is nowhere to be seen in the footage from training.
The fact Niclas Fullkrug was missing and we now know it is because he is injured will raise concerns about Crysencio Summerville.
West Ham have used an image of Crysencio Summerville training as the picture on the article housing the video footage from training.
But the flying Dutchman, who is going to be so crucial to the Hammers’ hopes of Premier League survival, is nowhere to be seen in the actual clips.
That might just mean he wasn’t captured on camera, or it could be he was given a rest that session as he is still only relatively recently back from eight months out with a very serious injury.
Fingers crossed nothing has happened to Summerville.
Every word Nuno said to West Ham’s players
In footage of training under previous regimes, the managers have rarely allowed what they say to players to be captured on camera.
But under Nuno that’s changed and it’s very refreshing for fans to see and hear.
West Ham’s multi-lingual boss is seen explaining a drill to Guilherme in their native Portuguese tongue.
He then tells the players what he wants to see from them in the particular exercise, saying: “To delay the runners, the defensive work, competitive.”
“You don’t need to use the front, if you want you can play straight to goal but the idea guys is to use the floaters, so James (Ward-Prowse), you can pass directly to Kyle (Walker-Peters), so you control the runners or you can use the floater directly, OK?
“Tight, tight, tight, short, short, short. Short pitch, short games but intensity, OK?”
Nuno is also heard encouraging the players with loud praise and encouragement telling them: “Bravo, tighter, closer, lovely and well done.”
“Close to him, bravo, win it,” Nuno says at one stage as the intensity ramps right up.
