Nuno Espirito Santo has made it clear who he thinks is to blame for West Ham’s damaging 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa.
West Ham are staring relegation from the Premier League in the face after twice letting a lead slip to lose 3-2 to Aston Villa at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were reeling last weekend when they dropped two vital points at the death as they allowed Brighton to equalise late on.
Every single point in West Ham’s battle for survival is crucial.
But Nuno Espirito Santo’s side once again dropped another three – or at least one – as they threw it all away against Unai Emery’s in-form side.
West Ham drop more precious points as Nuno makes history
West Ham have been conceding goals for fun for the best part of two years now.
Since January 2024 the Hammers have won just 19 Premier League games from over 70 played.
What does Nuno need to do to FIX West Ham’s defence?
More points lost…
Nuno’s big problem is his team generally have to score at least two to win a game. Against Aston Villa, though, two was not enough.
As a manager, Nuno has now gone 22 consecutive Premier League matches without seeing his side keep a clean sheet (11 with Nottingham Forest and 11 with the Hammers).
The Portuguese is the first manager in Premier League history to fail to keep a clean sheet in any of his final 11 games at a club and then any of his first 11 games in his next spell at another club.
West Ham’s situation is now dire.
Wolves and Burnley are looking like certainties for the drop approaching the halfway stage of the season.
And a straight shootout is developing between the Hammers and Leeds to avoid filling the final slot.
After the deflation of dropping two points at Brighton, the manner of the Villa defeat was crushing.
Nuno has a job on his hands to pick morale up and now faces the daunting task of Man City away.
To make matters worse West Ham will go to the Etihad without El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka as they head off the AFCON.
With dark clouds starting to gather over the London Stadium once again, scapegoats will inevitably be sought.
Angry Nuno blames West Ham star for damaging Villa defeat
One man in particular seems to be volunteering himself for that role right now.
And Nuno has blamed the West Ham star for the damaging Aston Villa defeat.
Lucas Paqueta incurred the wrath of Hammers fans when he was brainlessly sent off for dissent against Liverpool recently.
West Ham, from the board down to the fans, had backed Paqueta during his two-year spot-fixing ordeal and have been hoping the Brazilian would now start to repay their faith and support.
After starting the season well on a personal level, though, Paqueta has struggled badly to make the kind of impact a player of his quality should be having on games.
In fact he is now proving detrimental to West Ham’s chances, leaving the team with 10 men at a crucial stage against Liverpool and missing vital games through suspension.
West Ham fans at the London Stadium were furious with Paqueta in the defeat to Villa.
And it seems Nuno agrees.
The Hammers boss pulled no punches when assessing the match, pointing the finger at the playmaker he recently described as ‘irreplaceable’ for letting the team down in the pivotal moment.
Nuno did not mention Paqueta by name because he didn’t need to, instead describing the moment he gave the ball away in his own half for Villa to bomb forward and score as the killer blow.
Paqueta’s stats make for awful reading…
This was his WORST EVER performance for West Ham…
“It was a game that I think we had a lot of positives, but at the same time a lot of things that we should do better,” Nuno told West Ham TV in a very short and sharp interview after the game.
“There’s a major pivotal moment of the game, it’s the beginning of the second half, we are in front, we are leading, and we allowed Villa to get back in the game.
“It has been a factor in recent matches, we are leading and the leads are getting away from us.”
Nuno has been keen to make everything about the team and not individuals since arriving at West Ham.
But Paqueta’s selfishness at times is costing the team dear.
So it is right that the head coach calls it out and Nuno has certainly made it as clear as day who he feels is ultimately responsible for more points dropped against Villa.
What he does next with the number 10 will be intriguing as many have argued West Ham were better and more solid at Man United away without Paqueta.
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