West Ham United boss Nuno Espírito Santo has finally addressed the elephant in the room — the dramatic energy drop-off that saw his side surrender a 2–0 lead against Chelsea.
It was obvious from the moment Chelsea scored their first goal at Stamford Bridge. Workaholic forward Pablo had emptied the tank and was powerless to close down the opposition. Fatigue crept in, the high press disappeared, and West Ham were forced deeper and deeper.
From there, Nuno had little choice but to make changes.
Unfortunately, those alterations failed. The Hammers conceded twice more, finishing the game with a knackered side completely devoid of energy.
Speaking ahead of [Saturday’s massive clash with Burnley](https://www.claretandhugh.info/burnley-vs-west-ham-preview-team-news-predicted-line-ups-nuno-todibo-choice/), Espírito Santo admitted exactly what everyone in claret and blue could already see.
“We spent a lot of energy pressing high in the game, and playing so well offensively, and after about 55–60 minutes we felt that energy getting away.
We tried to rebalance the team with an extra body and it didn’t work out, so the challenge is to keep the standards throughout the whole match.”
A System Without the Players
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That is a difficult task when your system relies on two forwards running themselves into the ground.
Nuno’s shift to a 4-4-2 demands relentless pressing from the front — but West Ham simply do not have the depth to sustain it. With just days having passed since the [transfer](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfer-news/) window closed, the manager is already facing the reality of trying to solve his striker shortage from within.
It only reinforces what many feared throughout January: West Ham should have signed more forwards.
Now, instead of rotating fresh legs, Nuno may be forced into making tactical changes around the hour mark every single game — not because he wants to, but because his players physically cannot keep going.