The sheepish manner in which [Nuno Espírito Santo](https://www.claretandhugh.info/leeds-united-v-west-ham-united-nunos-bombshell-2-west-ham-line-up-announce/) redeployed his side when Ollie Scarles was forced off was the biggest admission that he’d got his team set up wrong – _again._ Only about 25 minutes into the game, West Ham already two goals down and to all intents and purposes ‘down and out’
Playing on the right again, Ollie Scarles fell awkwardly on his shoulder and didn’t get up: At which point Nuno had Wilson warming up and hastily re-jigged to put a left footed defender on the left and right footed Wan Bissaka on the right.
And a striker on the pitch.
The Hammers had a goal disallowed by VAR and looked ‘less terrible’ for the remainder of the half. But it is beyond my simple mind to explain why Espírito Santo picks the side he does. Leaving out Fernandes, Magassa and Potts and playing no striker. Irving and Soucek trundling around midfield. Inverted full backs.
Yet another perplexing starting eleven. How much more difficult can we make it for ourselves.
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By the end of the half, West Ham were creating a few chances but the damage was done. It’d take a miracle recovery to get anything out of this.
I’m still absolutely of the opinion that if the strongest Xi had started, we’d have been more than a match for this Leeds side who are not any more efficient than Brentford. What goes through this head coaches’ mind. I’d love to ask.
By 64 minutes Nuno’s calamitous starting eleven had been wiped from the memory with further substitutes and finally the Irons started to string a few passes together and got their first corner. Whilst the revised eleven looked more organised, just couple of chances came and went as Leeds sat, quite content and untroubled on a two goal lead, gifted them by Nuno’s daft experimental eleven.
More possession with Fernandes, Magassa and Potts on the pitch and few alarms in the second half, but a game that had been lost in the first 25 minutes made for depressing watching for Hammers fans. A brilliant little header from Fernandes gave the Hammers a goal in the last minute and at least enabled the Portuguese u21 international to show his manager what he thinks of being left out.