Despite the pressure, West Ham’s head coach has maintained his positive approach and words of encouragement for under performing players. It would be easy at this juncture of the season to become so fixated on the battle to remain in the Premier League that all else falls by the wayside, but Nuno kept his solid, calm and outwardly impressive manner intact at the Pre Wolves press conference.
Retaining a calm control at this juncture is in stark contrast with both his predecessors who were reduced to confused management speak – in Graham Potter’s case – or unintelligible ramblings as was Lopetegeui’s habit when the criticism was flying around.
Nuno Espirito Santo talks to max Kilman
Nuno’s wise words: West Ham might yet need Maximilian Kilman
Having time to praise those who aren’t ‘at their best’ best included some encouraging words for under fire Maximilian Kilman.
The former Wolves captain has been out of the starting eleven since January and performed so poorly that sections of the crowd booed him during the FA Cup quarter final. One of Kilman’s mistimed challenges gave rise to Leeds’ second goal from the penalty spot, and West Ham’s 28 year old was lucky not to have been sanctioned for a similar, earlier tackle.
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Wise old Nuno, however, is well aware that he may yet have to call on Kilman again before the end of the season. Further injuries to Mavropanos or Todibo – or heaven forbid, Chelsea Colossus Axel Disasi, could see Kilman again pulling off the tracksuit .
West Ham’s manager had words of encouragement for his fourth choice defender – published on whufc.com – and can’t be faulted from a ‘coaching’ perspective, seeking to build up the unfortunate player’s confidence just in case:
“I saw a good game from Max overall against Leeds. He was involved in the penalty incident, but for a player who’s not been involved a lot I thought he did well in possession and in his duels.
Everyone in this industry goes through ups and downs, and it’s about how you react to them. I think the reaction of Max was really good.”
Having coaxed the best out of the defender formerly known as ‘Mavropanic‘, it is of course still possible that Nuno can get a tune out of Kilman. With that £40 million price tag acting like a millstone around his neck, the big centre back won’t be headed anywhere soon – nobody is going to come in with an offer for even half that amount – so the more Nuno gets to work on him, the better.
The last couple of weeks has shown, scarily, that Maximilian Kilman might still have a part to play in West Ham’s relegation battle.