West Ham boss Nuno Espírito Santo has been dealt another injury blow ahead of their crunch clash with newly-promoted Leeds United on Friday, and one which will force the tactician to play around with his starting eleven yet again.
Nuno slammed after controversial West Ham line-up against Brentford
Nuno faced the wrath of critics after he named what was a bizarre starting eleven to play Brentford on Monday.
The Hammers, who fell to their fourth home league defeat of the season — an all-time club record at this stage of the campaign — deployed Olly Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters on their opposite sides, with Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving chosen in midfield ahead of the more dynamic Soungoutou Magassa and Freddie Potts.
After Niclas Fullkrug’s thigh injury was confirmed by Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, plenty of debate surrounded who would play the striker role against Brentford.
Sunderland 3-0 West Ham
West Ham 1-5 Chelsea
Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham
West Ham 0-3 Tottenham
West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace
Everton 1-1 West Ham
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham
West Ham 0-2 Brentford
Despite an expectation that Nuno could hand Callum Marshall his first ever Premier League start against Brentford, or play Jarrod Bowen in that role as the England international has done before, West Ham’s boss instead opted for Lucas Paqueta as a makeshift number nine.
The Brazil international was sloppy in possession and often left isolated, with the experiment ultimately failing to pay off.
West Ham legend Tony Cottee was among the critics to blast Nuno’s “awful” team selection after their uninspired 2-0 defeat, but the former Nottingham Forest boss moved to defend his choices.
“I think it worked out. The idea for the game was that we had to work together, compact. It does not matter if [I start] Andy or other players,” Nuno said.
“I think we have to train and achieve that all the players have their opportunities to show themselves so we can try to find better solutions.
“At half-time we changed it because things stop working, and we looked for another situation to try and get more solid, more compact in behind [and] not allow too many chances so we can bounce back from the result.”
Now, as per Nuno himself, he’ll have to tinker with the team once more, with defender Konstantinos Mavropanos now joining Fullkrug and George Earthy on the treatment table.
West Ham dealt Mavropanos injury blow with Igor Julio in line for recall
Speaking to reporters before West Ham’s trip to Leeds, Nuno confirmed that Mavropanos will miss their imminent clash.
The Greek international was forced off against Brentford and unable to finish the 90 after coming on as a substitute, and Mavropanos will be absent from West Ham’s matchday squad for the trip to Elland Road as a result.
“Yeah, he (Mavropanos) is injured, he came off. Now he’s doing a scan to see the real injury that he has,” Nuno said.
“I cannot answer exactly how long he’s going to be out. For sure, this game is not an option for us, unfortunately.”
The 27-year-old’s unavailability means that summer signing Igor Julio, who was left out of the squad entirely to play Brentford, is surely in line for a recall.
According to reports, Julio has been impressing in West Ham training as he fights for a place in Nuno’s starting eleven, and the Hammers hardly have anything to lose by giving him a shot.
Both Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo really struggled to contain Brentford on a night to forget for the pair, with West Ham also conceding more league goals than any other side in the top flight so far.
Described as a strong one-v-one defender with “excellent” technique by members of the press, the Brazilian has also been called an “animal” by former Seagulls coach Inigo Calderón.
Julio hasn’t been given a chance to stake his claim in the squad this term, playing just one league minute so far, but the time could be now as Nuno looks for inspiration from somewhere.