Nuno Espirito Santo has done an excellent job in turning West Ham United around, but he’s now set for his biggest challenge yet.
While Nuno’s reign at West Ham United did not get off to an amazing start, the former Wolves and Tottenham coach has pushed his team towards Premier League safety.
Indeed, after a dramatic upturn in performances, West Ham are now slight favourites to avoid relegation instead of Spurs.
Where will West Ham finish this season? 📈 And who will be relegated? ⬇️
Mind the gap, Tottenham Hotspur 😂
The Hammers sit two points ahead of their London rivals heading into this weekend’s fixtures, though that could change come Saturday night if Spurs get a positive result against Brighton.
As such, all eyes will be on Nuno’s approach in the final six games of the season.
Nuno must strike balance between attacking and defending at West Ham
There aren’t that many times this season where West Ham have been out of the bottom three.
They have largely been the chaser when it comes to battling against the drop. Now, they are the chased.
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This undoubtedly raises new challenges for the head coach. Nuno has often been accused of being too defensive as a manager, inviting pressure onto his team far too early in games.
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That plan would be laced with risk. While Nuno was rewarded for a front-footed approach as West Ham beat Wolves on Friday night, it’s much easier to do that when you’re the ones chasing the pack with nothing to defend.
Having a points lead over Spurs (for now at least) poses an entirely different question. It would be foolish to go on the defensive and try to hold what they have, when taking the game to opposition has worked in recent weeks.
Points have been dropped from winning positions all season. Though the defensive line has improved in recent weeks, it would still be almighty risk to lean too heavily on them.
This is relatively newfound territory for Nuno here in east London, and it will be fascinating to see how he deals with it.