At least Nuno Espirito Santo has learned from those early mistakes in the West Ham United dugout, successive Premier League wins putting that rock-bottom defeat at Leeds firmly in the rearview mirror.
It is three weeks now since Nuno Espirito Santo stood on the Elland Road touchline, broken, bewildered and with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Since then, two wins, six points, and a West Ham United side that appeared to be sleepwalking into the Championship have been shaken from their slumber. Mateus Fernandes and Freddie Potts have transformed Nuno’s midfield, and not a moment too soon.
If only Graham Potter’s successor had decided to pair the £40 million summer signing with the Hammers academy graduate a few games earlier. But at least the Tomas Soucek – Andy Irving experiment is over. Consigned mercifully to the past. A distant, dismal memory of a time in which even a coach who took Nottingham Forest and Wolves into Europe looked destined to go the same way as many London Stadium predecessors.
Nothing summed up the ill-fated and fortunately short-lived Soucek – Irving partnership better than the sight of Brenden Aaronson picking up the ball in Leeds’ own half, breezing past West Ham’s immobile midfield duo and rattling the crossbar with a shot.
Leeds’ Brenden Aaronson on why Tomas Soucek – Andy Irving partnership didn’t work at West Ham
Aaronson waltzed past Irving and then sent Soucek tumbling to the floor. Lucas Paqueta put up little resistance either.
Now, reflecting on what might have been a genuine Goal of the Season contender on the USMNT Only Men in Blazers podcast, Aaronson’s comments shine a harsh light on just how easy the Hammers were to play through before Potts and Fernandes came into the XI.
“It was just a moment where we needed someone to move us up the pitch a bit,” says the America international, who opened the scoring after just three minutes in that eventual 2-1 win.
“It was kind of instinctual. You get on the ball and you see some opponents in front of you, it’s just shifting out and trying to get away from them. Then, you know, the game opens up.
“I was thinking, ‘is someone going to come [and try and stop me]. Then, no one did. So I was like, ‘yeah, I’ll shoot.
“I was a bit unlucky not to score!”
Irving and Soucek have started together twice this season in a midfield pivot. Once against Leeds, and also in that 2-0 home defeat by Brentford. As bad as the Potter era was, arguably no West Ham performance in 2025 was worse than that.
Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes have made a huge difference
The difference between a midfield including the tidy but ponderous Irving and the all-action Freddie Potts was made clear right from the off in a 3-1 victory over Newcastle which belatedly lit the fuse for the Nuno era.
Potts was outstanding up against Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. Six days later, while a ‘sensational’ Mateus Fernandes was West Ham’s stand-out performer, the former Portsmouth loanee again went about his business with the kind of discipline and dynamism Irving and Soucek simply cannot replicate in deep-lying roles.
It is hard to imagine Aaronson slicing through the Hammers’ midfield like a knife through hot butter with Potts and Fernandes on the field.
Potts and Fernandes average 1.6 and 2.4 successful tackles per game between them. Irving and Soucek, in contrast, average only one and 0.6 respectively.
“You’ve got a midfielder who knows what he’s good at, who wants to defend, to play it into [Lucas] Paqueta. They haven’t had a midfielder like that for 12 months, maybe,” Matt Holland, a former Hammers graduate himself, said during Peacock’s coverage of that Burnley clash.
“He’s had a really solid game again. Maybe not quite as impactful [as against Newcastle], but nonetheless. He certainly adds better balance to the midfield. He wants to defend, steps in, winning the tackles…”
Tomas Soucek likes his new striker role under Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno is making far better use of Soucek’s talents these days, too. The Czech colossus has now equalled legendary compatriot Patrik Berger’s all-time Premier League record of 38 goals.
Speaking to Sport before finding the net against San Marino on Thursday night – his third in three successive games – Soucek is relishing a new-look centre-forward role, even if this means opportunities to play from the start have diminished.
“My form has been good recently, and we’ve won the last two games,” supersub Soucek said. “When something like that happens, the mood is better and I want to bring it [to the international camp] as much as possible.
“I’m excited about the last two games and I’m looking forward to the next games so I can show that form.
“[Against Burnley], I moved up to [the striker] position when Callum Wilson came off. The coach liked it and I’ll play anywhere on the pitch if needed. I’ll be happy to step in as goalkeeper, centre-back, midfielder or forward.
“If it works out, I’ll be happy. Even in the national team, if I play anywhere, I’ll do my best. I want to be an asset to the team, my advantage is that I can understand any position and perform well there.”
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