Mistakes can always be forgiven in football. But only if you learn from them. Seven weeks after West Ham United icon Tony Gale saw Nuno Espirito Santo gift Bournemouth the initiative on the south coast, history would repeat itself with even more painful results.
No Premier League team has lost more points from winning positions this season than the Hammers. Eighteen, in total.
In fact, since Nuno Espirito Santo took charge in September, they have thrown away nearly as many points – 15 – as they have earned in total.
Seventeen, if you were wondering.
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It felt like it was coming….
Going defensive too early cost us! 😡
Credit: Getty Images/Richard Pelham
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An Achilles heel first glimpsed during that aforementioned 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium on November 22nd, and one which now appears to be hobbling the Hammers’ fading survival hopes like a sledgehammer to Paul Sheldon’s ankles.
At Bournemouth, West Ham United stormed into a 2-0 lead at half-time. Nuno then had the not-so bright idea of replacing Luis Guilherme and Callum Wilson with Kyle Walker-Peters and Tomas Soucek before the 52nd minute.
Mateus Fernandes would also make way either side of Bournemouth halving the deficit and then levelling the score.
Only an ‘incredible’ Alphonse Areola performance denied Bournemouth the winner. There was to be no denying Chelsea, though, as the criticisms of Tony Gale rang true once again over two months into the future.
Nuno Espirito Santo repeats familiar failings as Chelsea beat West Ham United
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
This time, Nuno swapped out Pablo Felipe for Max Kilman, changing from a back-four to a back-three. A swap which meant West Ham lost the man who routinely pressed from the front, dropping back into midfield to plug the gaps and prevent Chelsea from breaking the lines.
With Pablo off the park, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer seized full control; their midfield outnumbered and their defence swamped.
If this felt familiar, well, that’s because it has happened before.
“So many defenders, so deep as well. Everybody is leaving it to each other and they make them pay, Bournemouth,” Gale said after Enes Unal cancelled out West Ham’s 2-0 lead on matchday 12.
“They can’t go any deeper, West Ham. They will be on the goal line!”
Nuno appears to be of the opinion that shoving more defenders onto the pitch equals fewer chances for the opposition.
What he does not appear capable of grasping – which is bizarre for a coach of such experience – is that by taking off a Wilson, a Fernandes or a Pablo, he removes West Ham’s outlet. Denies his team their best route of relieving the pressure and dragging themselves up the pitch. Hanging onto a lead might work for the best, most well-drilled teams in the game. But a defensive trio of Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Konstantinos Mavropanos?
Sometimes, attack really is the best form of defence. Especially when up against a Chelsea or a Bournemouth side who had already shown themselves to have an underbelly softer than campfire marshmallow.
Georginio Rutter’s 91st minute equaliser for Brighton in December, meanwhile, came shortly after Nuno replaced Lucas Paqueta, El Hadji Malck Diouf and Fernandes with Soucek, Ezra Mayers and Soungoutou Magassa.
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And how many do you think we WILL get?
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Nuno tries to explain Max Kilman substitution after Stamford Bridge collapse
Mistakes are inevitable, even at the top level of football. But repeating the same mistake three times in the space of seven weeks? There is little excuse for that.
“A good first half, and a bad second half. We played really well [early on]. We controlled the ball and every time we went up, we created danger and scored,” Nuno told Sky Sports with his West Ham side now one Nottingham Forest victory against Crystal Palace away from finding themselves six points adrift.
“We played really well. We started well and that was the idea for the entire game, but it wasn’t enough.
“We need to defend, we need to do things properly, and keep the same ideas,” Nuno added when asked specifically to explain what he told his players in the dressing room at the interval. “Manage the momentum of the game.
“We knew that Chelsea would go and react, but we defended badly and we should have done better.
“I think we could have avoided [Pedro’s goal to spark the comeback], crosses into our box. Of course, they have numbers there, but we have the bodies to control it better.”
Nuno may have a point. But rather than simply stacking the penalty area with ‘bodies’ and hoping they can deal with anything Chelsea throw at them, how about trying to keep the ball away from your penalty area in the first place?
West Ham have now gone 23 games without a clean sheet. Concede against Burnley next weekend – Jean-Clair Todibo will be unavailable at Turf Moor due to his red card here – and the Hammers will equal an all-time club record set back in 2008.
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