It is fair to say La Liga cult hero Paco Jemez has enjoyed his first few weeks of Premier League football with West Ham United.
How much an upturn in form can be attributed to the 55-year-old Spaniard is debatable. What is not up for dispute, though, is that Paco Jemez’s arrival on Nuno Espirito Santo’s coaching staff has coincided with three successive wins. Something West Ham United have not achieved since November 2023.
Jemez is clearly not afraid of telling Nuno how he feels, either. The pair could be seen shouting at each other on the touchline as the Hammers looked to hold onto a 3-1 lead against Sunderland on Saturday. Something Jemez feels has been ‘blown out of proportion’, and was nothing more than two tactical experts passionately arguing their cause.
Admired by Luis Enrique and loved by Pep Guardiola… 🇪🇸
What do YOU think about West Ham hiring Paco Jemez?
The former Rayo Vallecano and Granada will have to get used to the scrutiny and the media glare of the English game.
One thing he noticed right from the off, though, was that the atmosphere inside the stadiums and the physicality of the players is ‘on another level’ compared to what he is used to back home.
Paco Jemez blown away by West Ham United’s stadium and Premier League power
West Ham appointed Jemez in mid-January, a few days after their FA Cup third round triumph over Queens Park Rangers.
He was on the bench for the first time as Crysencio Summerville terrified Tottenham into submission, and witnessed West Ham put Sunderland to the sword seven days later. This means that a man who famously took a Rayo side with a home capacity of 14,000 to an eight-place La Liga finish has sampled crowds around 60,000 strong on his first two Premier League matchdays.
“It’s an absolute beauty. The stadiums are always full,” Jemez tells Radio Marca. “[But] the big difference, even compared to Spain, is on the physical plane.”
Mateus Fernandes was in ‘unbelievable’ form against Sunderland. West Ham’s all-action Portuguese powerhouse trampling all over the usually irrepressible Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra.
“These guys fly, man. They are specimens,” adds a gasping Jemez. “Nowadays, football is demanding everywhere. But here, if you aren’t physically up to the task, they run over you.
“Technically or tactically they might not be better than in Spain but, physically, they are on another level.”
Jemez reveals the role Nuno Espirito Santo has given him
Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola are confirmed admirers of Paco Jemez, and his famously free-wheeling, possession-heavy football. It may be no coincidence that the Hammers have played with a much greater fluidity since his arrival.
Left-back Ollie Scarles insists Jemez has made a big difference in the defensive third, too. Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jean-Clair Todibo were superb again. Nuno has a dilemma on his hands heading into Saturday’s trip to Chelsea as well, as Scarles looks to keep El Hadji Malick Diouf out of the XI.
Nuno has quite the DILEMMA on his hands… 🤔
Who are you picking to start against Chelsea?
“I had never been an assistant. I had always been a head coach,” explains Jemez, stepping into unfamiliar territory in his mid-50s. “I thought, ‘How am I going to fit into this? Will I be able to do it well?’
“For now, I’m handling it relatively well. I understand Nuno is the boss, but he brought me here not to say ‘yes’ to everything, but to say what I think and help change a complicated dynamic.
“I prefer being a head coach because I’ve been one my whole life, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass; to experience the Premier League from the inside. Even if I was as a kit man, I couldn’t pass it up.
“Nuno gives me a free hand. He even lets me prepare training sessions for attack or defence. He gives me almost the same freedom as a head coach.”
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