There was no easing in of the West Ham United players at the start of pre-season; not with Nuno Espirito Santo and his long-time confidante Rui Pedro Silva keeping their beady eye on proceedings at Rush Green.
Konstantinos Mavropanos, Taty Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen and co returned to the training pitch earlier this week.
Gone was the hyperactive energy of Paco Jemez. After much flip-flopping from the fan favourite Spaniard, West Ham confirmed that Jemez has gone for good while Nuno brings in Rui Pedro Silva as a very familiar replacement.
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Nuno's long-time assistant is heading to the Hammers…
This is the eighth club that Silva and Nuno have worked together at; Malaga, Panathinaikos, Rio Ave, Valencia, Porto, Wolves, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and now West Ham United.
One-time flatmates, long-time confidantes, the old band is back together in East London.
Rui Pedro Silva makes Rush Green debut as West Ham United assistant
As part of a series clips posted by West Ham’s official YouTube channel, Nuno took the time to familiarise the squad with a new face.
“Before we start, I just want to introduce Rui,” Nuno told a huddle of players before Wednesday’s session. “[He will be our new] assistant coach, I think you already know,”
“He’s been with me a long time. Another one to help us.
“Yesterday was day one. First thing today, we start touching the ball. So every touch of the ball, everything you do, has to be with a purpose.”
Silva could be seen watching on as Castellanos, Mavropanos and Freddie Potts shook off the cobwebs with a simple passing drill. When the session ramped up a notch though – sweat pouring from brows – Silva appeared to relish a more active role.
“Let’s go, together, working!” Silva bellowed while instructing a few small-sided games from the sidelines. “Work together!”
Silva is clearly a very vocal presence. Barely a second passed by without his Porto accent cutting through; whether it be counting up the number of successive passes, pointing out a free player ready to receive possession or offering words of encouragement with an accompanying applause.
Paco Jemez’s replacement will bring plenty of ‘fight’
He might not match the frenzied, 100 mile an hour persona of Paco Jemez, but Rui Pedro Silva is no shrinking violet. Premier League fourth officials will tell you that; Silva a regular recipient of cards on the touchlines of Wolves and Nottingham Forest.
“I just need to be careful with the yellow cards, because sometimes the anger and the passion mix a little bit with the fighting!” Silva admitted during his second spell at Molineux under Rob Edwards.
“For sure, that passion, I’ll never lose it. Sometimes there is a line between the passion and the fighting, but sometimes it’s needed.
“Everybody should experience the Championship once. It’s relentless. Every game was a fight.
Can you spot anything interesting as West Ham return for pre-season?
Taty returns, Nuno chats with Bowen, and a couple of youngsters make an appearance
“[We won the title with Wolves in 2018 because of] the pressure we put inside of us; one of the points that made us so successful. Every week, there was pressure. You need to fight in the Championship because sometimes people create doubts.
“We as a team said no [to the cynics]; We need to win our space, fight for our space. Sometimes, you need to fight.”
Keiber Lamadrid has clearly bulked up since making his loan deal permanent. Talking of ‘fight’, the newly-broadened Lamadrid certainly wouldn’t look out of place in a pair of boxing gloves these days.
Fellow youngster Andre Dike has been seen at Rush Green too as he looks to earn himself an opportunity in pre-season.
Bowen, Mavropanos, Castellanos, Soungoutou Magassa, Mads Hermansen and Kyle Walker-Peters are busy building up their fitness with an eye on August’s opener at Burnley, though Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El hadji Malick Diouf are due a longer holiday due to their World Cup exploits.
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