Another West Ham star will spark fresh tensions at Nottingham Forest after making a bold claim about Nuno Espirito Santo.
His comments are bound to sting at the City Ground — and show exactly how much belief the Hammers have in their new boss.
There is a parallel universe where Ange Postecoglou is manager of West Ham and Nuno Espirito Santo is still at Nottingham Forest.
Intriguingly, that universe was not a light year away by any stretch.
After being sacked by Spurs, a large number of West Ham fans urged David Sullivan to swap Graham Potter for Postecoglou.
Under-fire Forest boss Postecoglou was on West Ham radar
A top journalist even tipped Postecoglou to return to football at West Ham if and when Graham Potter was sacked.
Nottingham Forest were the first to wield the managerial axe, though, as Evangelos Marinakis made the controversial decision to sack Nuno – ironically following a 3-0 defeat to the Hammers.
Postecoglou, publicly admired by West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady, was brought in as Nuno’s replacement at the City Ground.
Meanwhile Hammers fans had seen enough of Potter and he was shown the door 10 days ago, being replaced by that man Nuno.
It is fair to say the two sets of fans feel very differently about their latest appointments.
Nuno has made an instant impact in east London, sparking new hope among fans and players and getting much more aggressive, competitive performances in tough away games at Everton and Arsenal.
Most expected nothing more than two resounding defeats from those matches but West Ham emerged with a point from Everton and could have won the game.
A resilient display at Arsenal restricted the title favourites to few clear-cut chances. In the grand scheme of things a 2-0 defeat was far better than the huge hammering most were predicting under Potter.
Over at the City Ground, Postecoglou has endured a polar opposite start. Winless in his first six games, the Aussie is already fighting to save his job according to reports.
West Ham star’s Nuno claim will torment Forest fans
What Forest fans chanted at Postecoglou about Nuno showed West Ham have made a great choice.
Now a West Ham star has made a Nuno Espirito Santo claim that will torment Nottingham Forest fans.
A host of Hammers stars are all saying the same thing about Nuno since he arrived in east London.
Forest supporters are still livid Nuno was sacked.
Hammers aces Jarrod Bowen, Konstantinos Mavropanos, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Crysencio Summerville and Soungoutou Magassa have all raved about Nuno, showing Forest’s loss is West Ham’s gain.
Now Alphonse Areola is the latest West Ham star to make it clear Nuno is a major upgrade on Potter, rubbing salt in Forest wounds.
The giant French goalkeeper says Nuno has made an instant positive impact at West Ham – in just one week at the helm and without any of his own staff.
“I think that with this new dynamic, we are more solid,” Areola told West Ham’s website when discussing new head coach Nuno.
“We have seen it (at Arsenal) but we have to work harder on the pitch and try to win more points.
“The coach has said that he wants a team that competes. We have to use this to connect with our fans, who will help us a lot this year. Winning points is the most important thing now.
Areola makes it clear Nuno is a major upgrade for West Ham
“Now we are in a new dynamic…
“The coach said it clearly – the main thing is to have a fighting team that fights every game to win points and to reconnect with our fans.”
There is certainly no connection between Forest fans and Postecoglou.
The Hammers will be hoping to show the impact Nuno is making on the pitch after the international break by climbing the Premier League table.
The irony will not be lost on Nottingham Forest fans that Nuno’s West Ham could do that at the Tricky Trees’ expense.
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