1 day ago
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West Ham are drifting towards the most gutless of relegations. The London Stadium was half empty on another dismal night, encapsulating the apathy gripping this miserable club, and it is hard to see a way out for Nuno Espírito Santo’s accident prone side after a combination of misfortune and dismal defending left them seven points below Nottingham Forest in 17th place.
There was a disallowed goal for Crysencio Summerville when West Ham were leading 1-0 at the start of the second half. Nuno had charged around his technical area, a big grin spread across his face, but he was watching in despair moments later. Forest replied straight away, Nicolás Domínguez heading in an opportunistic equaliser, and they boosted their survival hopes when a clumsy attempt at a clearing punch from Alphonse Areola sparked the video assistant referee review that ended with Morgan Gibbs-White scoring the winning penalty in the 89th minute.
It does not matter that West Ham produced one of their livelier displays of the season. They grumbled at Tony Harrington pointing to the spot after a flapping Areola flattened Gibbs-White but this was a missed opportunity. Forest were poor. They were booed off at half-time and for a while it seemed the only thing Sean Dyche’s side were going to get right was show safe hands when West Ham passed them the Premier League’s crisis baton.
That, of course, reckoned without West Ham’s self-destructive tendencies. They have not kept a clean sheet since appointing Nuno and, although they mustered some fight after the shocker at Wolves, they ultimately lacked the belief and organisation to close the gap on Forest to one point.
“We have to keep believing,” Nuno said. “It is about how we react. We have to realise we did enough to win. It’s not over. There’s a lot of football still to be played.”
Yet there has been no improvement under Nuno. West Ham are winless in 10 games and there was some pointed talk from Tomas Soucek after an eighth defeat at home this season. “We have to be honest with each other and it will show who cares or not,” the midfielder said.“If someone is relaxed then they should be out of the squad.”
Nuno, whose position will surely be reviewed now, did not detect a lack of effort against his former club. The issue was more that West Ham are short of tactical discipline and quality after years of shoddy recruitment.
The frustration was that a better team would have beaten Forest, who didn’t have to play particularly well to ease the pressure on Dyche by ending a run of four straight defeats.
Forest fell behind when the ineffective Omari Hutchinson conceded a needless corner in the 13th minute. Summerville crossed and Soucek’s flick went in off Murillo.
Soon, though, there were anti-board chants from the home fans. Nuno is symptom rather than cause. Repeated errors from David Sullivan, West Ham’s largest shareholder and most influential figure, are the real reason why this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Queens Park Rangers will feel like an early taste of life in the Championship next season.
Desperation has taken hold. West Ham have backed Nuno, landing his targets. Taty Castellanos, the £26m Argentinian striker, showed willing before tiring on his debut. Pablo Felipe, a Brazilian forward plucked from the Portuguese top flight last week, also came on. It remains to be seen if these players can save West Ham.
It is certainly strange that West Ham look ready to let Callum Wilson depart five months after joining the club. The experienced striker was withdrawn from the squad on the day of the game and is expected to leave by mutual consent.
Perhaps Forest will pick Wilson up. They were blunt for long spells – Igor Jesus struggled – and have toiled since a 3-0 defeat by West Ham in August signalled the end of Nuno’s time at the City Ground. The initial momentum generated by Dyche faded during the festive period and there have been reports that Edu’s job as Forest’s global head of football is under threat.
“There was a lot of noise around the game,” Dyche said. “We’ve played better since I’ve been at the club. But today wasn’t about that. It was about the winning mentality. It can’t always be beautiful.” Forest’s threats before half-time were limited to Neco Williams testing Areola and Callum Hudson-Odoi hitting the bar. Dyche saw too much ineffective passing. He told his side to be more direct in the second half and they improved after Summerville’s goal was disallowed for offside against Castellanos.
Soon it was 1-1, Elliot Anderson’s corner met by Domínguez, the header drifting over Kyle Walker-Peters on the line. It was West Ham’s 13th concession from a set piece this season. They chased a winner and there were chances for Jarrod Bowen, Pablo and Walker-Peters. But the sinking feeling grew after Areola’s foul on Gibbs-White.
