It's proving a tough task for Nuno Espirito Santo.placeholder image
It's proving a tough task for Nuno Espirito Santo. | Getty Images
Nuno Espirito Santo has been deploying young full-back Ollie Scarles on the opposite flank in recent fixtures.
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo has come under criticism in recent weeks for fielding risky starting XIs with the team in desperate need of Premier League points.
The Hammers’ defence has been the worst in the league this season, conceding 20 goals in their opening nine matches, which has left the former Nottingham Forest manager chopping and changing.
While West Ham supporters are in desperate need for change, Nuno’s decision to deploy full-backs on the wrong flanks has come across as somewhat of an unnecessary risk with the team struggling to do the basics right.
Ollie Scarles struggles against Leeds United
The rise of Ollie Scarles to regular first team minutes was one of few positives to come out of the Graham Potter tenure and the full-back received his first minutes of the league campaign under Nuno against Brentford and Leeds United.
Scarles started both of those matches on his unnatural right side, being hooked at half time against the Bees and coming off injured early at Elland Road. He was rated 2/10 by Claret and Hugh for his showing against Leeds United.
Cottee, speaking exclusively to London World via the home of non-gamstop-casinos, was asked if Nuno might be picking his XIs to make a point to the board over a lack of depth. He said: “Well that’s not his job, his job as a manager is to put a team out and get results, it's not about putting protest teams out. What would worry me is if he thinks it’s his best team.
“I'm a big fan of Ollie Scarles but I know one thing, and he isn’t a right back, and if you ask Ollie Scarles I'm 99.9% certain that he himself will tell you he's not a right back, so what's he doing playing at right back?
“That's not his choice, that's the manager's choice. He needs to make the right decisions and I did a tweet after the Brentford game - football's a very, very simple game, but you have to play your players in their best positions. If you don't then the players won't perform and the ones that are playing and seeing players out of positions are going to be scratching their heads saying well why are we not putting our best team out? Then you get a knock on effect from that point of view so I think Nuno needs to he needs to get it right for his formation.
“You’ve got Newcastle coming to town on Sunday, I mean there's no such thing as an easy game in the Premier League when you're down the bottom, but Newcastle are a fantastic team, got some great players and if we don't put our best team out or the players in the right position, we'll be in serious trouble.”
Tony Cottee wants Potts and Fernandes in starting XI
Nuno’s choice of Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving in the centre of the park with the team looking more confident with Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes on the pitch. Cottee believes the latter duo should be starting against Newcastle United this weekend.
He said: “Yeah, absolutely, but I think most fans would have said that before those two games kicked off! The one thing that I would say in general, is that the West Ham fans are very knowledgeable about their football. They love their football, they understand their football and they want to see a certain type of football.
“Most West Ham fans wouldn’t have gone with the two you mentioned, but would pick Fernandes and Pottsy, they need to be given a chance. I am concerned because we have right backs playing left backs, and it’s just very hard to understand at the moment.”
In other news, West Ham blow as Newcastle United 'shining light' could return from injury at London Stadium.
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