Dropping points in August and September won’t improve the mood at West Ham United but, simultaneously, it would hardly be the end of the world.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side raise the curtain at Turf Moor on August 16th. As starts go, away from home at one of West Ham United’s likeliest automatic promotion challengers is about as tough as it gets.
With Wolverhampton Wanderers also due to take on the Hammers inside the opening fortnight – two recently-relegated Premier League rivals the bread either side of a Charlton and Watford filling – there will inevitably be some reading this who fear that a pair of early defeats would make for an uphill battle.
West Ham certainly know all about those.
The fixtures are out! How many points do West Ham NEED in the first 5 games?
Turf Moor is a tough start…
Yet, you only need to look at Daniel Farke’s Leeds and Vincent Kompany’s Burnley to realise that a fast start is not the be all and end all. Sometimes, as they say, good things come to those who wait.
West Ham United must follow Leeds United and Burnley examples
Leeds racked up a century of points in the 2024/25 campaign. However, only eight of those would come from the first 15 available. Leeds started their title-winning season with successive draws against West Brom and Portsmouth, before losing at home to title challengers Burnley.
At the time, demands for Farke’s head were growing in volume and feeling. A 3-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough – and your correspondent can confirm this for a fact, having been present at Elland Road that day – had the ground bordering on mutinous.
Speaking of Burnley, now-Bayern Munich boss Kompany led the Clarets to silverware in 2023. However, they won only one of their first five matches. Draws with Luton, Hull City and Blackpool, plus a defeat by Watford, did little to suggest that Burnley would end up with a staggering 101 points against their name.
Before Frank Lampard ended Coventry’s Premier League exile, the reigning Championship champions would drop points in three of their opening five matches.
Norwich City had two defeats on the board by mid-September in 2020/21. When winning the league in 2019, the yo-yoing Canaries actually lost three times in the same five-game timeframe.
In fact, of the last ten Championship title-winning teams, only two would win three or more of their first five second-tier matches; Scott Parker’s Fulham in 2022 and Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City in 2024.
The title-winning sides led by Farke, Kompany and even a certain Iberian tactician – Nuno led Wolves to the Premier League nine years ago – got the mistakes out of their system early before embarking upon long runs of sustained excellence.
Give us your immediate thoughts on the NEW West Ham kit! 👕
It's certainly bold…
Hammers must stick with Nuno Espirito Santo despite Scott Parker availability
Before it was confirmed that Nuno Espirito Santo would be staying on at the London Stadium, there were some who felt that West Ham should turn to Parker. A former Upton Park favourite and a three-time promotion winner with Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley.
If Nuno leads the Hammers to a couple of high-profile defeats before the first international break of new campaign, the pressure on his shoulders will switch quicker than Evangelos Marinakis’ trigger finger.
Parker a proverbial sword of Damocles hanging above Nuno’s head.
But while patience is usually in short supply these days, it is important to remember that no title race is ever decided by October.
“Nuno made it very clear that he is highly motivated for the challenge of guiding West Ham United back to the top flight at the first time of asking,” read a statement provided by West Ham’s official website just days after their relegation was confirmed; dusting themselves off, wiping away the tears, and pledging to go again.
“[Promotion] must be the unquestionable goal for next season.
“Nuno has spent one previous year in the EFL Championship and it was an outstanding success as he secured 99 points to win the title with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018.
“Together, we will take the Club back to where it belongs. The hard work to do that has already started.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
