Nuno Espirito Santo has a ‘huge problem at West Ham that could get them relegated’
Nuno Espirito Santo is dealing with growing frustrations at West Ham and they are now at risk of being cut adrift in their battle against relegation.
That is according to former West Ham and Man United senior scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected at his previous clubs, as he exclusively told Football Insider that the Hammers’ failure to grind out points from games could cost them.
Nuno’s side lost 3-0 to Man City last time out, but losing away from home against title challengers is not the type of result that will see West Ham relegated.
Instead, their 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the London Stadium, a game in which they led twice, has set alarm bells ringing about their future in the top division.
West Ham have failed to win any of their last six games, and are now five points away from safety, and a Nottingham Forest victory on Monday would extend that gap.
Nuno Espirito Santo faces ‘huge’ West Ham problem
Brown told Football Insider in October that West Ham will get relegated as fingers continue to be pointed at the board despite the on-pitch struggles.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience working closely alongside elite-level managers including Sir Alex Ferguson for over a decade at Man United, insisted that their inability to hold on to results could cost them dearly.
“West Ham are in real trouble,” he told Football Insider.
“Since Nuno came in, they’ve improved and their results have been a bit better, but they’re still losing too many and getting cut adrift in the relegation zone.
“They lost the game at home to Aston Villa which they should never have lost.
“If you saw them play in that game, how did they twice throw away the lead and then lose the game?
“We can talk about transfers and say West Ham need a new striker and all this sort of thing, but they lost to Aston Villa, not because they didn’t have a centre-forward.
“It’s because they can’t hold on to leads, they give silly goals away, they never look resilient and they make the game too easy for the opposition.
“They’ve lost far too many games from positions where they should be grinding it out and earning the points, they just don’t seem to have that grit. It’s a huge problem.
“So if I was a West Ham fan, I’d be very worried, because that’s not a good sign.”
West Ham board slammed as January transfer plan revealed
Amid ongoing concerns about performances on the pitch, there are lingering concerns about the board’s attitude towards improving their squad.
Brown told Football Insider on 19 December that West Ham have a limited transfer budget and are not prepared to spend big in the January transfer window.
As a result, the former scout warned that the club is going backwards due to the board’s lack of ambition and will feel the effects of that this season.
Nuno wants to strengthen his squad in a number of key positions, but is unlikely to be afforded a large budget to do so by the board.
This comes after Football Insider revealed West Ham have set aside £20million to fund their pursuit of a new striker, but would not go higher than that price.
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