Evidently all was not well behind the scenes in Nuno’s first few months at West Ham: As results continued to disappoint and the Hammers’ Premier League position fully reflected their dire form, Nuno Espírito Santo became more and more distant from his players, according to a new article today.
Whether specific players were becoming unruly – the infamous ‘want -aways‘ dividing the squad – isn’t confirmed but what is clear is that West Ham’s dressing room was not a good place to be.
As reported in today’s standard.co.uk article:
‘How Nuno breathed new life into West Ham’s fight to stay up”:
Author Sam Tabuteau pinpoints the low water mark in the Hammers’ season:
“Sources told Standard Sport last month that Nuno had grown increasingly withdrawn from players who were on the periphery of his squad as results began to slide over a difficult winter period.
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However, with many of those players now having departed, there is understood to be fresh energy and impetus around the training ground with everyone pulling in the same direction…
Paco Jemez – a major influence on West Ham’s upturn of form
It is more than likely that, along with the departure of Lucas Paquetá, the impact on the dressing room of Assistant Coach Paco Jemez’ arrival has revolutionised West Ham’s fighting spirit and turned a divided squad into a team working for each other:
“After careful work in the transfer window, a previously fractured dressing room has become a unifying force, with the addition of assistant coach Paco Jemez also providing an important voice for Nuno and his players.”
What is evident is that Nuno’s change of mindset along with the wholesale shipping out of players that he no longer wanted ( there were ten departures in the winter window ) has turned the fragmented parts of a squad into small, tight knit team. Whether that will be enough to enable the Hammers to leapfrog one of their relegation rivals by the end of May – only time will tell.