At the end of my daughter’s first away game, as we filtered out of Stamford Bridge, a well-meaning West Ham United fan turned to her and said, “Phew, what a first game — you won’t see many like that.”
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
What we witnessed against Chelsea has become far too familiar for my liking: surrendering a lead. Again.
I’m afraid to say this defeat was entirely on Nuno Espírito Santo and his decision to introduce Max Kilman. Yes, we were already 2–1 down at the time, but the message that substitution sent was deafening.
It silenced the away end. More importantly, it sent a signal to the West Ham players — and to Chelsea — that we were sitting back.
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This is not hindsight talking. The collective groan and visible concern around the away end as Kilman was readied was palpable. Everyone — everyone — knew what was coming.
West Ham cannot defend a lead. In fact, the only clean sheet the Hammers have kept all season came against the current manager. That alone should ring alarm bells.
To Nuno’s credit, the first half was excellent. It put us 2–0 up and deservedly so. But we said similar things after Bournemouth, and the outcome was depressingly familiar to so many games.
The manager is not blameless, but nor is he entirely helped by the squad at his disposal. Nuno has committed to a high-energy 4-4-2, which works — to a point. The problem is that it demands relentless intensity. To sustain it for 95 minutes, West Ham would realistically need four high-energy forwards rotating through the front line.
That depth simply is not there.
Still, everyone inside Stamford Bridge knew a Chelsea goal was coming. Everyone, it seems, except Nuno, who continues to repeat the same mistake.