Nuno Espirito Santo may have been left with a feeling of wanting more but, in a much-improved defensive showing, West Ham United at least restricted Premier League challengers Arsenal two just two goals.
And, clearly, West Ham are making solid early progress attempting to fix what Nuno described as a ‘big problem’ defending set-pieces.
That the division’s most formidable dead-ball side could not get the better of their opponents from corners or free-kicks – Alphonse Areola is a clear improvement on Mads Hermansen when it comes to commanding his penalty area – felt like a good early plus for the Nuno Espirito Santo era.
Mads Hermansen will get a chance to redeem himself at West Ham United, the manager says. But, right now, Nuno appears to have settled on his first-choice selections between the sticks and in central defence.
Max Kilman produced arguably his best two performances of the campaign against Everton and away to The Gunners. Even the Arsenal fans had to admit that Konstantinos Mavropanos ‘bullied’ Viktor Gyokeres last time out, meanwhile.
Nuno will have been hoping that one of Mavropanos’ best performances in a Hammers shirt – up -against the club who brought him to England in the first place – would be a turning point. He would therefore have been disappointed to see the £17 million Greek giant slip back into those familiar failings on international duty.
West Ham United’s Konstantinos Mavropanos at the heart of Greek tragedy
The Greek supporters pulled no punches with Mavropanos when demanding he be removed from the firing line after last week’s collapse at Hampden Park.
He helped gift Scotland an equaliser when his poor clearance fell straight into the path of Ryan Christie. Mavropanos was then outmuscled by Grant Hanley as Lewis Ferguson put Steve Clarke’s side ahead.
Away to Denmark a few days later, Mavropanos was the nearest Greek defender to Joachim Andersen as the Fulham powerhouse bulleted the Scandinavians into a 2-0 lead. Near, but not near enough.
On a night of disastrous individual errors – Rasmus Hojlund and Brentford’s Mikel Damsgaard also profited from some awful blunders – Mavropanos was not alone in taking the blame.
But, speaking to Gazzetta after Greece slipped seven points behind Scotland and Denmark in their World Cup qualifying group, West Ham’s number 15 admitted that ‘easy mistakes’ were at the heart of another Mavropanos misery.
“We are completely disappointed by these two results. First of all for us, and then for all the people who came to support us,” said the former Stuttgart defender. “Unfortunately, we did not manage to get positive results.
“There were two similar performances in Scotland and [against Denmark]. We had the possession, we were organised both in attack and defence. What cost us were the easy mistakes we made in set pieces, and that’s what brought us to where we are.
“Maybe we should have given a little more energy to set pieces because we knew that was their strong point. But that is in the past. We can’t change it, we’re looking forward.”
Nuno admits West Ham have a ‘big problem’ in set-piece situations
It may be ‘in the past’ for Greece, but West Ham’s own set-pieces issues remain a very present complaint. One Nuno is determined to fix. That Arsenal performance is a mark of progress, yes, but one suspects a permanent solution may never be found with Mavropanos at the heart of the backline.
“That is a big problem that we have to solve,” Nuno said during his first full week in charge of the Hammers. “We’ve been working. I think we improved in the last game [against Everton, although there is] still a problem with the second phase.
“But [sorting out set-pieces is] something we are really concerned with. We have to solve it.
“Nowadays, set-pieces have a huge impact on the game. We have to become more aggressive because we have good leaders, good headers. Defending, we have to address it.”
