Nuno Espirito Santo under fire as West Ham lose 3-1 at home to West Brom
West Ham fell to a 3-1 London Stadium defeat by West Brom, dropping to eighth in the Championship as fans turned on head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, who insisted he is always under pressure.
West Ham United head coach Nuno Espirito Santo faced open dissent from home supporters during and after Saturday's 3-1 Championship defeat by West Brom at the London Stadium, with chants of "sacked in the morning" directed at him in the closing stages. One departing fan told reporters the performance was poor and that the manager needs to go. The result left the Hammers eighth in the table, with West Brom among the sides now ahead of them.
The defeat was West Ham's third home loss in all competitions in their past four games at the London Stadium. Boos punctuated the afternoon as the hosts wasted chances and conceded at the other end, and West Brom's three goals came without any apparent resistance in the areas that mattered. Isaac Price, Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Felix Horn Myhre were singled out as the game's most accomplished performers, with Jarrod Bowen showing only flashes for the home side.
Asked whether his position was under threat, Nuno said he is always under pressure, every day. He also acknowledged the team's frustration and said the basics were that West Ham did not play well and conceded too easily. The head coach pointed to a recurring problem: his side have now fallen behind in 10 of their 16 games in all competitions this season, and Saturday's opener was the fourth goal they have conceded inside the opening 20 minutes of their past three home league matches, a run in which they have not scored first themselves.
Nuno said he had held a meeting with the players about the slow starts before the game, but it made no difference. He stressed that his message is to begin on the front foot and that the team must improve defensively and try to score first. He described the tendency to concede the opening goal as very concerning.
West Ham have conceded six goals in their past two home matches and clearly missed Konstantinos Mavropanos, with 18-year-old Airidas Golambeckis enduring a difficult afternoon alongside Max Kilman and Morato. Nuno said Mavropanos, out with a knee problem picked up against Southampton, is improving and might be fit for Wednesday's trip to Cardiff. Defeats by Southampton and West Brom have left the Irons chasing both rivals, and Nuno admitted every dropped result takes the team further from its stated objective.
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