Nuno Espirito Santo told the West Ham United supporters that he had spent the week leading up to Saturday’s 2-0 win at Burnley seeking ‘other solutions’ as he looked for stop a dreadful habit of throwing away leads.
No team in the Premier League had lost as many points as West Ham United from winning positions. In fact, if you added those 18 points given away to the club’s current overall tally, they would already be past the magical 40-point mark.
Fixing this extremely unhelpful habit was, then, unsurprisingly high on the agenda following that second-half collapse at Chelsea.
Who was your MOTM vs Burnley and why? Let us know in the comments 👇
Nuno admitted, with hindsight on his side, that bringing on Max Kilman for Pablo Felipe was perhaps ‘a mistake’ in West London.
The head coach had intended to cram the penalty area with another centre-half, feeling that more defenders on the pitch would mean fewer Chelsea chances. To say the change backfired would be an understatement.
West Ham lost a physical attacking outlet in Pablo. And, with Kilman joining Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo at the back, the visitors sacrificed control in the midfield areas and found themselves camped inside their own box, unable to escape a dark blue tidal wave of pressure.
So when Callum Wilson’s number appeared on the fourth official’s board a week later – with another two-goal lead coming under pressure at Turf Moor – the away supporters could have been forgiven for encountering a vicious case of deja vu.
Fortunately, this time Freddie Potts entered the fray. That Kilman remained an unused substitute, as West Ham picked up their first clean sheet since August, is probably no coincidence.
Freddie Potts helps West Ham United secure vital Burnley win
Yes, Potts for Wilson was still a defensively-minded alteration. And how much should be read into his impact is up for debate.
Burnley do not possess even a fraction of the attacking talent at Liam Rosenior’s disposal. A better team might have taken advantage as West Ham sat back at the start of the second-half. The returning Mads Hermansen had to make a few ‘really good’ saves as Burnley threatened to become the third team in three months to bounce back from a 2-0 deficit against Nuno’s men.
But Potts’ introduction, rather than offering Burnley the initiative, actually helped West Ham wrestle back control.
Eight of the Clarets’ 15 shots also arrived in the ten minutes between kick-off in the second-half and Potts coming on. West Ham were averaging only 39 per cent of the possession between the 46th and the 60th minute. An average which rose to 46 per cent with Potts on the park.
Giving West Ham an extra body in the centre of the park, not to mention someone energetic and mobile enough to cover the ground relentlessly, had the opposite effect to Kilman’s introduction at Stamford Bridge. In just over half an hour’s worth of action, Potts made three clearances and completed 100 per cent of his passes.
While Kilman’s presence in a back-three invited Chelsea to chuck crosses in at will, Potts patrolled the edge of the penalty area manfully. Thus, denying Burnley any real routes into the box.
The academy graduate’s impact was summed up best when he charged from central midfield out to the right-back spot and slid in to block an attempted cross.
Tell us Freddie Potts’ best role at West Ham! ⚒️ 💢
Starter or Supersub?
Nuno delighted with Turf Moor victory and a rare clean sheet
Last week, our Hammers News readers felt Nuno was wrong to pick Kilman over Potts when West Ham were in front. One week later, one has to wonder if a few of you should consider taking up a career in coaching…
- Sign up for free here to tell us what you thought of West Ham’s latest performance!
“The boys did really, really well,” Nuno told reporters after a fourth win in five games across league and cup. “They were committed, desire, organised, [with] talent up front. Nice goals, nice combinations and a clean sheet that makes us proud of the way we defend, because I believe that everything starts from there.
“If we can fix it then, [with our options] up front, we have talent that can help us.
“It starts from [the back]. We are aware of the problems that we’ve been having. We have to solve it, we have to fix it. Individually, the players in defence were OK, but it’s more about the line, the way we can connect with each other, covering spaces.
“We did well.
“We knew that today was going to be very, very tough, but everything starts from there, our organisation when we press. So, congratulations to the boys because they did an amazing job today.”
While that Chelsea collapse says otherwise, a defensive change when a goal or two ahead is often a very effective way of seeing out a win. The trick, though, is to find the balance between creating organisation off the ball, and ensuring you still retain a presence elsewhere.
This is a balance Nuno, after so many leads tossed aside, might finally have found a way to strike.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
