Nuno Espirito Santo has been putting his West Ham players through their paces ahead of the clash with in-form Aston Villa at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Since arriving in east London, Nuno Espirito Santo has made a big point that standards in training had to improve.
Ahead of facing Aston Villa, the Hammers boss insisted that a more competitive and serious approach to sessions was vital to long-term, sustained progress.
One team who are the perfect example of that are West Ham’s next opponents Aston Villa.
Unai Emery has set seriously high standards since joining Villa, leading the club on a meteoric rise.
More at stake for West Ham than Villa but will it show?
After a sticky start to the Premier League season, Villa found themselves near the bottom of the table alongside the Hammers.
But Emery’s side go into the game at the London Stadium having won nine of their last 10 Premier League matches, the most points of any team in the top flight since 28 September onwards.
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In fact Villa are the first team in any of the top four divisions in the history of the Football League to win none of their first five games of a season and then win as many as nine of their next 10.
That is what the Hammers are up against on Sunday as they look to get a vital win on the board in their battle to avoid relegation.
Nuno’s big problem is his team generally have to score at least two to win a game. As a manager he has gone 21 consecutive Premier League matches without seeing his side keep a clean sheet (11 with Nottingham Forest, 10 with the Hammers).
He’s the first manager in Premier League history to fail to keep a clean sheet in any of his final 10 games at a club and then any of his first 10 games in his next spell at another club.
On top of that, West Ham don’t have a great recent record against their claret and blue cousins, going winless in their last five Premier League games against Villa having won five in a row against them before that.
Jarrod Bowen is West Ham’s big hope and he goes in search of making it 100 goals and assists combined in the Premier League for West Ham having scored 60 and laid on 39.
Only Michail Antonio (68 goals, 33 assists) has achieved that feat.
There is undoubtedly more riding on the game for West Ham.
So how have the Hammers been looking ahead of the clash?
Here’s six big things spotted in West Ham training for Aston Villa as one star fires at the perfect time.
Scarles back in full training and looking good
West Ham posted behind-the-scenes footage from training at Rush Green and a welcome sight was the return of Ollie Scarles.
The young Hammer turned 20 yesterday and has been out since a serious shoulder injury at Leeds which required surgery.
Scarles looked set to make West Ham’s left-back spot his own when he was put straight in the team by Graham Potter back in January.
After some excellent performances, Scarles started to struggle, though, falling out of the squad altogether by the end of last term.
West Ham went out and paid £20m for El Hadji Malick Diouf in the summer and he has been a huge hit. When Nuno arrived, though, he randomly brought Scarles in from the cold and played him out of position at right-back in crucial games against Brentford and Leeds.
Scarles struggled badly in both games and picked up the injury in the latter.
There is no doubt the Academy graduate has quality. Now he has come back into the fray at the perfect time to prove it.
Because Diouf heads off to AFCON after Villa and Scarles will get his big chance during West Ham’s most important and winnable – on paper at least – run of matches this season.
Scarles looks fit and competitive as he gets stuck in during the session, even scoring some wonderful goals with his excellent left foot.
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Magassa the West Ham monster surely set to return
Soungoutou Magassa has been a revelation for West Ham of late.
Fans were annoyed when the Frenchman was rested for the draw at Brighton after a stunning man of the match performance and goal at Man United.
Magassa will almost certainly be back in the starting XI for Villa, though, if his performance in training is anything to go by.
The £17m summer bargain was so dominant in training it should be worrying for Villa star Morgan Rogers.
Gary Neville described Magassa as a ‘destroyer’ when he dominated Man United.
‘Midfield monster’ may be a more fitting description on this evidence and what is becoming increasingly clear is Magassa knows where the goal is too, as the footage shows.
Walker-Peters on fire at perfect time
Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are among West Ham’s best and most pacy, athletic players.
So it is gravely concerning that the Hammers are losing both to AFCON after Villa for up to six weeks.
It is hugely reassuring then that arguably the most impressive player in West Ham training ahead of Villa was Kyle Walker-Peters.
Both defensively and offensively in training Walker-Peters is immense. He has been good for the Hammers when given game time this season.
Now with the free agent signing set for an extended run in the side, he seems to be ready to show his true worth.
Walker-Peters scores a number of goals in training and could perhaps teach Crysencio Summerville a thing or two – that’s how impressive he is.
Let’s hope that transpires when he replaces Wan-Bissaka in the coming weeks.
Nuno’s intriguing new West Ham midfield drill
There is some particularly interesting footage from Rush Green which saw West Ham’s central midfielders separate off for their own drill.
It involved quick, short sharp pass and move transitions between one another on repeat with serious encouragement from the coaches.
The emphasis was on quality and speed of pass as the likes of Magassa, Tomas Soucek, Freddie Potts, Andy Irving and even outcast James Ward-Prowse involved.
Whether it is a specific drill designed to combat Villa’s midfield remains to be seen.
But watch out for Magassa, Potts and Mateus Fernandes combining over short distances against the Villa.
Paqueta back in a happy Hammers head space
After his ludicrous red card against Liverpool, Lucas Paqueta understandably came in for heavy criticism from West Ham fans.
The Hammers have stood by Paqueta during his darkest moments and have had to suffer some insufferable performances as well as a lack of output.
So his selfish behaviour in showing his frustration at being booked cost West Ham dear and angered fans.
Nuno admitted since that Paqueta has grown fed up of feeling targeted by officials and was struggling mentally.
Well footage from training shows the Brazilian magnifico is very much back in a happy head space ahead of Villa – the team he was linked with joining in the summer.
Paqueta can be seen all smiles throughout and at one point is even teaching Fernandes to dance.
Let’s hope a happy Paqueta can get back amongst the goals and assists when Villa come to town on Sunday.
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