Whatever the pundits think about Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham United, even their greatest detractors would have to accept that the Premier League battlers seldom know when they are beaten these days.
There were only seven minutes of normal time remaining at Old Trafford when Soungoutou Magassa rebounded Jarrod Bowen’s flick to open his West Ham United account, cancelling out Diogo Dalot’s opener in the process.
Nuno Espirito Santo has instilled a real sense of togetherness, of team spirit in a Hammers outfit who are suddenly making a habit of such fightbacks.
From adorning the changing room with a collage of childhood photos – El Hadji Malick Diouf and co were suitably fired-up before that 3-1 triumph over Newcastle after seeing pictures of themselves plastered over the walls pre-match – to creating a lively, vibrant atmosphere at Rush Green.
Graham Potter’s successor made it his mission to bring a previously fragmented squad together, while getting the fans back onside. This new-found, never-say-die attitude should certainly go some way to achieving those ambitions.
Nuno Espirito Santo is succeeding where Graham Potter failed at West Ham United
That 1-1 draw away to Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United means West Ham have now picked up nine Premier League points in the Nuno era, after all.
Remarkably, eight of those have been gleaned from losing positions.
They fought back to claim a point at Everton during his first match in charge in late-September. After three successive losses, West Ham then rebounded from a fourth-minute Jacob Murphy daisy-cutter to beat Newcastle 3-1.
They went in at half-time a goal down to Burnley six days after that, and emerged victorious then too.
Genuine quality may still be in short supply. The football is functional, at best. But ‘pushovers’ West Ham certainly are not. Not anymore.
“To be honest with you, at the start of the season, they didn’t have much. They were pushovers in virtually every game. It was actually ridiculous,” former Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves told Premier League Productions at Old Trafford.
“Whereas now, they go into every game, they can give everybody a game. And I think that’s a real positive. They defend really well, they hit teams on the counter, and I think they got good players for that.
“They’ve got to stop conceding so many goals. I think they conceded the second most. But at least they have an identity now!”
In 23 league matches under Graham Potter, West Ham earned a grand total of three measly points from losing positions.
From three in 23, to eight in nine.
West Ham will go to Brighton with a real sense of optimism
While Potter’s invertebrates lacked even a hint of a backbone, Nuno has West Ham playing with a spine again. For all their lingering weaknesses, that spirit, that desire, that refusal to ever throw in the towel could conceivably be the difference between coming 17th and 18th.
The end of the Potter era was characterised by a damaging tendency to turn setbacks into full-blown catastrophes. They conceded three goals in half an hour on the opening weekend at Sunderland, let in five in 43 against Chelsea, and three in 17 against Tottenham.
Even versus Wolves, when they exited the Carabao Cup against a team with only two wins in all competitions all seasons, a 2-1 lead became a 3-2 deficit between the 82nd and 84th minutes.
Throughout the entirety of Potter’s reign, from January to September, West Ham gave up a staggering 21 points from winning positions in addition from only clawing three back from losing positions. Brighton, Southampton, Liverpool and Everton all scored winners or equalisers against the Hammers beyond the 89th minute last term.
Haemorrhaging points from winning positions and failing to claw back deficits. That is about as bitter a combination as one could ever wish to taste.
This is not to say all is rosy in Nuno’s garden. West Ham threw the game away against Bournemouth just last month, going in 2-0 at half-time and eventually heading home lucky not to have lost. The ‘incredible’ Alphonse Areola saved Nuno’s skin on the South Coast.
But if they were sleepwalking towards relegation before, at least now Nuno has put a bit of pep in West Ham’s step.
It is Brighton and Hove Albion up next, on Sunday afternoon. Even if Fabian Hurzeler’s team are leading heading into the final few minutes, do not even think about changing the channel.
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