‘Perilous’ - West Ham Suffer Worst Start to a Season in 52 Years
west Ham United are in deep trouble after a defeat at Leeds on Friday, marking their worst start to a premier League campaign in 52 years. The loss was the third consecutive defeat under new manager Nuno Espírito Santo, who is yet to secure a win since replacing David Moyes in September.
The Hammers currently sit 19th in the table, having amassed onyl four points – their joint-lowest return at this stage of a league season, matching the tallies from the second tier in 1932-33 and 1973-74, both ending in relegation. Their sole victory this season came against Nottingham Forest, a match played while Nuno was still manager at the City Ground.
Nuno was tasked with preventing West Ham’s first relegation from the top flight since 2011-12,but is struggling to turn the team’s fortunes around. He secured a single point in his first match, a draw against Everton.
“There are many problems in our club regrettably. It is indeed not up to us to hide ourselves behind the problems. Everyone has to be alive and to do much more and be in the right position,” Nuno stated. He also acknowledged tactical shortcomings, saying, “We were not dealing with our defensive situations and I felt like we needed a striker to hold the ball, so maybe that’s not the greatest from me. These kind of mistakes are unacceptable in the Premier League.”
Nuno is the first West Ham manager as Manuel pellegrini in September 2018 to fail to win any of his first four Premier League games. He warned,”There is quality there,there is time,but nothing will happen if we don’t change. We must change our attitude, we must change the way we approach things, we must commit ourselves better, prepare better, work harder.All the things – that is the reality. We don’t expect things to change by themselves. Realising we have time can be a mistake if we don’t change things around quickly.”
