Will Unwin has it all covered in his report from Elland Road.
Nuno spoke to Sky: “We didn’t deal with the problems. We didn’t deal with many things. We have to work hard and be much better. I feel the players want to, but they switch off in many moments.
“Tomorrow we work. Now is the time for sadness. Let’s keep on going. We need the fans since we arrive, it’s up to us. We need to give them something to deserve that support.”
Jarrod Bowen spoke to Sky, and like on Monday after the Brentford defeat, he didn’t hold back: “We have to go out there and fight more than anything. The Premier League is the hardest league. We’re not playing well and not getting results. We need to change it. We’re the only ones that can change it.
“We’ve talked as a group, but it’s down to the players as well. We speak to each other, but there’s only so much. It’s got to come from within. We can show it a lot more. Nine games we’ve had, one win and we’re second bottom. We haven’t been great at home, but now is the time to roll your sleeves up.”
Brendan Aaronson spoke to Sky: “To stick it out and get the result is huge for us. I have been working hard at it and last week I got unlucky with one, but that is how football is. I am proud of myself. It shows how strong of a group we are. We were unlucky with the result [against Burnley], but we bounced back. We have got to keep going from here.”
So did fellow scorer Joe Rodon: “I think every team is difficult in this league. I’m a bit frustrated to concede at the end, but overall delighted with the three points. It was important to keep that momentum and make it difficult for teams to come here.”
Stat via the BBC: “West Ham’s four points from nine games is their joint-worst return ever at this stage of a league campaign, also picking up just four in the second tier in 1932-33 and in 1973-74 in the top-flight (both using three points for a win).”
They stayed up in 1973-74, the last season Bobby Moore played for the club. Frank Lampard Snr played all 42 matches.
Will Unwin’s report has already landed.
The table makes yet grimmer reading for West Ham. Comfort for Leeds. The team below them, Brentford and Nottingham Forest, face Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Everton | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 | Leeds | 9 | -5 | 11 |
| 14 | Brentford | 8 | -1 | 10 |
| 18 | Nottm Forest | 8 | -10 | 5 |
| 19 | West Ham | 9 | -13 | 4 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 8 | -11 | 2 |
Full-time: Leeds 2-1 West Ham
Well done to Leeds who got the job done; they will be delighted. The damage was done in a ruinous start for West Ham, who were improved once Nuno brought on a midfield with creativity. This is their joint-worst start to a season. That was a six-pointer, and one they got nothing from. Big smiles from Daniel Farke. Nuno stays, as ever, impassive, though there is a tinge of melancholy.
90+4 min: Huge cheers as Ampadu wins a free-kick. Leeds think they can see this one out. Perri – on a yellow – takes his time. “We are Leeds” rings out as the job is completed.
Updated
90+3 min: James Justin smashes into Walker-Peters and is booked. VAR looks to see if was a red card offence. It isn’t.
90+2 min: Todibo booked for dissent as he throw the ball down in rage at an Attwell decision. Silly boy; it’s his team’s time he’s wasting.
90+1 min: There’s going to be four minutes to see out for Leeds. Suddenly, West Ham are full of vigour. A draw from here would be a disaster for Leeds but there’s cheers and respite when Todibo’s weak attempt lands in Perri’s hands.
Goal! Leeds 2-1 West Ham (Fernandes, 90)
Bowen’s chip and Fernandes’ flicked header and the Hammers are back in it. That was very well taken.
Updated
89 min: West Ham have given far more effort in the second half but been blunted when it came to final passes and balls. Wilson has run hard but looks rusty.
87 min: The Leeds fans, having had the attendance over 36,000 read out, then mock the London Stadium.
86 min: Off go Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brendan Aaronson, on come Dan James and Lukas Nmecha.
83 min: Perri is booked for delaying another West Ham corner. Fernandes takes this one, and that’s cleared. Harrison robs Paqueta but it falls to Potts. All Hammers at the moment but Leeds are winning the battle for the skies. Rodon heads away.
82 min: Nice West Ham move, Diouf bursting on to a Paqueta layoff, but the ball is deflected behind. Another Hammers corner. Attwell and Paqueta are rowing over the ball being in the ‘d’.
80 min: Feels like West Ham have lots of full-backs and not enough forwards. They have had plenty of the ball. Freddie Potts has been influential; the latest midfield prospect, it seems.
78 min: Hammers corner, headed out, and Diouf blams his shot somewhere in the direction of Batley. Boos as Summerville goes off from away fans, Paqueta is kept on, looks like a change of heart from Nuno. Also off is Wan-Bissaka, as Magassa and Kyle Walker-Peters comes on.
76 min: Gruev is booked for a tactical foul on Paqueta, stopping the danger man escaping. West Ham about to make more changes. Paqueta is due to be one of them. That will go down well.
75 min: Lee Woodard gets in touch: “I’m concerned that every manager who joins West Ham suddenly goes blind. Every fan can see Potts and Fernandez must start. Soucek and Irving can’t run. Or pass. Sully [David Sullivan] obviously not funding private eye tests.”
There’s a gag about Mr Sullivan’s products making people go blind to be cracked but…well, yeah.
Updated
73 min: Fernandes out to Paqueta, bit more swing to West Ham. Potts is making a difference, too. Leeds are retreating into their shell while trying not to get too far back. Delicate balance to be struck.
71 min: West Ham win a free-kick, Paqueta fouled, and Fernandes will take it. That was dreadful, the ball looped up and over, and out. Perri watching it run out.
69 min: Leeds have lost a bit of control. Tanaka’s influence has faded and Ilia Gruev is coming on, the Bulgarian.
67 min: Justin Kavanagh: “Friar Nuno and his brotherhood seem to be reduced to Hail Marys at this stage. At this rate, West Ham haven’t got a prayer and will need a miracle to stay up.”
Also JK: “Just when Leeds fans were entering a period when they might be able to enjoy the last 20 minutes with an all-too-rare 2-0 lead, and you have to go and mention Paris 1975.”
Well, they started it by singing about it.
66 min: Charles Antaki gets in touch: “Perhaps it’s a good job that Nuno’s facial expressions range only from placid to imperturbable, with perhaps a shy smile thrown in if things are going exceptionally well. Not that that particular expression will trouble him much tonight, or for the foreseeable future.”
Paqueta is channelling his rage into actual football now, and has a shot blocked. When Wilson is tackled, he wins the first West Ham corner of the night. It is duly wasted.
65 min: Here comes Fernandes and Potts, off go Soucek and Andy Irving, the Scottish wizard.
63 min: Matheus Fernandes and Freddie Potts are imminent for West Ham. Is there a more East End name than Freddie Potts? Born in Barking, too, though dad Steve, Hammers legend was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the insurance capital of the USA.
61 min: Leeds showing more danger on the counter, Harrison’s shot will not beat Areola this time, though.
61 min: Paqueta is still giving it out to Attwell, he’s also arguing with Soucek. It is not a happy ship that Nuno is being asked to sail.
59 min: Solo run by Aaronson, slaloming through. Is it going to end in a goal? No, it comes off Kilman and back off the bar. It deserved a goal. He’s been brilliant tonight, the boy from New Jersey.
58 min: Watching back that Paqueta moment. He was very lucky to stay on the pitch. Just as the Hammers look to be getting a foothold. Perri steps in to claim the ball aimed by Irving to Bowen.
56 min: Leeds fans singing “champions of Europe”. Paris 1975 is now over 50 years gone.
Updated
54 min: Dodgy moment for Perri, the Leeds keeper as Summerville’s cross comes off at funny angle. Then Paqueta gets involved with the ref, having been booked for dissent. He is veering into orange territory.
52 min: The lively Aaronson runs the channels, can’t get past Kilman but does manage to win a corner. That first half, according to the excellent Seb Hutchinson on Sky, was only the third longest half since records began – in 2006-07.
50 min: Jean-Clair Todibo is wearing a Robbie Fowler-style nose strip. Perhaps he could spread some Vicks on his chest for extra 90s style. Perhaps he suffers from snoring problems.
Updated
49 min: Richard Hirst gets in touch: “Who do you think was most wan at half time: Bissaka or his manager?” Nuno looked deep in thought as he came back out, like he was wondering why he does this for a living when it hurts so bad.
48 min: Soucek looks to escape, only for his tug on Bijol’s shirt to be penalised.
47 min: West Ham resume with the 4-4-2 they ended the first half with. Nuno is a true football man, Paqueta is playing off Callum Wilson and seeks his strike partner.
46 min: We resume with a half-time change, Jack Harrison is on for Noah Okafor. That looks like an injury as Okafor was playing well down the left.
Half-time: Leeds 2-0 West Ham
Grim viewing for West Ham, dreadful as the game began but better as the half went. Leeds still full of danger but may yet rue not scoring another. They will get further chances, though; this Hammers team guarantees that.
45+13 min: The half close down with Wan-Bissaaka, far more comfortable on the right, throwing in a couple of challenges. He’s a fine defender, maybe use him where he’s best.
45+12 min: Soucek, at last, gets forward, and Bowen finds him but this time the header is wide, he just couldn’t get over it. Better from West Ham, they can still rescue something with the attacking talent they have. The defence may be a different matter.
45+10 min: Only three more minutes of surely the longest first half of the Premier League season. Nearly an hour of a horror show for West Ham, more miserable than an Eastenders double header.
Bogle, on the burst, forces a save on the near post from Areola, who has earned his corner. But also earns a corner. This one is aimed at Rodon but cleared.
45+8 min: More panic from the Hammers as Calvert-Lewin hounds Kilman into a backpass to Areola, and the hurried kick almost comes straight back at him.
45+7 min: Peter Oh is in: “I don’t know if this quite nails it, but West Ham’s ongoing woes remind of the saying ‘When all you have is a Hammer, everything looks like a smashed thumb’.”
45+5 min: Jeers as Paqueta wafts over the bar. Soucek, who usually joins the attack, is sat far too deep. He’s not the most adept defensive midfielder. Paqueta takes out his frustration by smashing into Tanaka.
45+3 min: West Ham fans boo as Kilman dithers; on their next attack, it’s Okafor on the escape, and he zings a shot wide, the former Napoli and Milan man.
45+2 min: Leeds go close again, Aaronson’s ball in Calvert-Lewin’s vicinity. But not close enough.
45 min: Bad news for those filing match reports: 13 (thirteen) added minutes for the first half. Unlucky for some.
42 min: Kari Tulinius gets in touch: “Maybe Graham Potter wasn’t the problem. After his exploits at Forest, Nuno’s star shines bright in the football firmament, but if he can find a coherent team in his squad before Christmas, it’ll be miraculous.”
James Justin will replace Gudmudnsson, the former Leicester player is a capable outlet. A one-cap wonder, though injuries prevented more.
Updated
40 min: Summerville crashes in and Longstaff is felled. That’s a booking that receives loud cheers from the home fans. Gudmundsson meanwhile is limping. He goes down, and asks for the physio. There’s going to be plenty of time added on.
Updated
39 min: An Ethan Ampadu gallop ends up with him seeing glory and shooting. He misses but that begs the question: how is he still 25? Feels like he has been around forever.
37 min: Long ball pumped forward, Rodon can’t clear the danger, and Jarrod Bowen, coming into the game at last, fires wide of the goal.
West Ham goal disallowed
36 min: Paqueta smashes in after Bogle’s clearance comes off Wilson. A neat finish, smashed home. The home crowd silenced, then jeers as the flag goes up. The lines come out in Stockley Park…will it stand? It’s tight as the proverbial. Semi-automated offside still jiggered – in AWS we trust – so it’s back to the diagrams. It takes well over two minutes to deny the Hammers. But good process from the linesman.
Updated
33 min: Summerville, the former Leeds player, is being booed on every touch by the locals.
31 min: Leeds first to every ball, the accelerator still being pressed as they try to kill off the game and open a gap on the Hammers. It takes Kilman to stop Aaronson stealing in on Okafor’s cross.
30 min: Sweeping Leeds move, backed by loud noise, it’s started by Longstaff and finished by Tanaka smashing over. The tails are up.
29 min: Leeds have been good, let’s credit them. Farke has planned this well. Set piece delivery is important these days, always was, despite Sean Dyche’s skinny jeans schtick.
27 min: A glimmer of hope for West Ham as Wilson looks dangerous then the clownery resumes as Diouf backheels the ball off the field.
Updated
25 min: The action resumes, Wilson playing his first minutes of the Nuno regime.
Justin K is back: “Are you sure Wan Bissaka is playing at left-back (min 1)? He looked more like a spectator there. Leeds should charge him the ticket price in.”
Tim Stappard gets in touch: “I think Frankfurt is more an electronic music place. Probably suits his bouncing capabilities better.” I’ve seen Kraftwerk play in Frankfurt but I have also seen Iron Maiden and attended a rather good rock bar by the Rhine.
Updated
23 min: Scarles goes off, and looks to be taking on oxygen. Looked like one of those collarbone injuries you see in cycling. He is to be wished well.
21 min: A lengthy delay as poor Scarles is tended to. Ian Sargeant steps in to say: “Having attended Mondays game and spent the first half wondering what the hell inverted full backs bring to a formation im more than a touch irritated to be asking the same bloody question. You’ve got two pretty decent right backs in the squad. Why play your second choice left back there - and your first choice right back at left back.
“There’s a book on my shelf - The Art of Captaincy by Mike Brearley in which he says never weaken a strength to strengthen a weakness.
“Nuno - take heed.”
19 min: Sean Longstaff’s corner was a pearler. Meanwhile, young Scarles is hurt, on the end of a cruncher from Rodon. He looks in pain, like he damaged his collar bone. Callum Wilson is warming up and will come in. Looks like a rejig. Scarles comes off, and Wan-Bissaka will go back to the right. Long discussion with Nuno before Wilson comes on.
17 min: Justin Kavanagh gets in touch: “Both of these teams’ managers look like they could have walked out of a monastery and exchanged their monk’s habit for a tracksuit. That beard on Dominic Calvert-Lewin also looks a bit monastic to me. Let’s hope the football tonight is charitably entertaining and rises above any vows of poverty.”
Nuno looks like he is considering taking orders. Could be for the best. Daniel Farke has the look of a bouncer at a Frankfurt rock club.
16 min: Nuno has arms crossed on the touchline. He looks bereft. So does his team. Ugly scenes.
Goal! Leeds 2-0 West Ham (Rodon, 15)
Dear me. Too easy. Rodon climbs highest, Paqueta not bothering to challenge him and nod home.
Updated
13 min: Longstaff presses Wan-Bissaka hard and almost creates a chance for Aaronson but the ball is cleared by that panicky Hammers defence. Scarles, who is being chased, almost plays Kilman into trouble. Eventually, more pressure on Scarles wins a Leeds corner.
12 min: We’ve already heard the first chorus of “sack the board” from the Hammers fans. Not a fun trip up the M1 or on the rattler from Kings Cross for them so far.
Updated
10 min: Perri justifies his selection with a fine save from Summerville, righting himself to make it a double save. Leeds do look a bit open. There could be something in this for the Hammers.
9 min: Ethan Ampadu is down now. The culprit was the finger of Stuart Atwell, in his eye. Ampadu is asked to leave the field, and he’s in a sour mood as he does so. Looked a bookable offence from Attwell. VAR to be called in?
8 min: Can Nuno last longer than Ange did in replacing him? The signs so far are not positive.
6 min: Andy Irving is the recipient of a nasty baulk from Tanaka, which was probably an accident though looked careless. Irving will require stitching up. The goal came from Bogle’s cross, and Ampadu’s header and Aaronson being first to pounce.
4 min: Was Calvert-Lewin in the way of Areola? No, says the VAR, so goal is awarded. West Ham were all over the show.
Goal! Leeds 1-0 West Ham (Aaronson, 3)
It was a scramble, dreadful defending from West Ham, Scarles beaten at the far post, Areola makes a save but Aaronson smashes in the rebound.
Updated
We are go at Elland Road
1 min: Wan Bissaka is playing at left-back, with Scarles, the teenager, at right-back. Nuno has rolled the dice there.
Before kick-off, the players take the knee. That receives boos…not great.
With Leeds not at home until after the next international break, there’s a remembrance ceremony being held, with a lone trumpeter ringing out and a poppy montage on the big screen. Huge applause at a packed Elland Road as that comes to its end.
Nuno also spoke to Sky: ““I expect good performances. That’s why we have players and options on the bench, but also in the game we can adapt. Individuals duels. This week was a short period, but the message is there. Recovering them well – when you don’t win the recovery takes long. I think the boys are ready.”
More Daniel Farke, speaking to Sky, and an explanation of his goalkeeping selection: “First of all, we have to say Karl Darlow is always reliable and done a really solid job when we needed him. We make no secret out of it that we have signed [Lucas] Perri as number one. Overall we had a difficult week. We had a few players struggling with a few physical problems. We tried to find a good mix. We cannot afford to play without all of them.
Andy Irving is a cult hero at West Ham. Ironically so far, though the club are calling out for a hero who isn’t called Jarrod Bowen.
Four changes for Leeds. Lucas Perri starts in goal, Jaka Bijol, Noah Okafor and Ao Tanaka in for Karl Darlow, Pascal Struijk, Anton Stach and Jack Harrison, all benched. Darlow actually played OK v Burnley so that one is something of a shock decision.
Nobody played OK for West Ham on Monday but only two changes made, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf in for Kyle Walker-Peters and Mateus Fernandes, one summer signing in, two out. Which says a lot for the summer business.
t is a chilly night at Elland Road as Leeds enter a very difficult period of the season. They lost last time out at Burnley and their November fixtures see them travel to Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, with their only home clash coming against Aston Villa. This feels like a game Leeds need to win, having not secured maximum points in over a month.
West Ham are in a relegation battle and Nuno Espirito Santo knows it. This looks a poor side short on confidence and he needs to return things around quickly. There were positive signs in his first game in charge at Everton but losses to Arsenal and Brentford will have done little to boost the confidence. A big win under the lights tonight could ignite his tenure.
The teams
Leeds: Lucas Perri, Bogle, Rodon, Bijol, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Ampadu, Tanaka, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor. Subs: Darlow, Gruev, Justin, Harrison, Stach, Nmecha, Piroe, James, Struijk.
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Scarles, Soucek, Bowen, Irving, Summerville, Diouf, Lucas Paqueta. Subs: Marshall, Potts, Magassa, Rodriguez, Fernandes, Wilson, Igor, Walker-Peters, Hermansen.
Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)
Daniel Farke’s pre-match thoughts:
“I didn’t like their game on Monday because after such a game they will be even more determined. They have a very experienced approach.
“There is no added pressure. At this level, every game has pressure, and so far we have played huge games. We look forward to these games and it’s why we have worked our socks off in the last 24 months.
“It’s always important for newly established Premier League sides to make their home a fortress. If you look at the teams who have survived, they had really good home records, which is what we want to do.
“Therefore, he wants his side to start quickly: “We need to be good in our pressing and to play as dominant as possible.”
Some Nuno quotes from his pre-match press conference.
“It is up to us to connect the fans. It is up to us that the fans go to the stadium and see something they enjoy. It is on our side.
“They were rushing their decisions. I see them work every day. We have quality and talent to make five-yard passes, but they were not happening. It is up to us to tell the players to play their game, try to ignore [outside noise] and focus on what is happening on the pitch.
“It is us who is going to solve our problems. Us who is in the building, not us who is outside. We must solve our own problems.
“We have to improve our players. We need to improve their fitness, tactical awareness - everything. We concede a lot of set-pieces - too many - but we defend them pretty well. We are improving on that but we need to improve on not conceding. Some of them are easy situations we can solve.”
Last time out: not pretty for either team.
This is the predicament both teams find themselves in.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Fulham | 8 | -4 | 8 |
| 16 | Leeds | 8 | -6 | 8 |
| 17 | Burnley | 8 | -6 | 7 |
| 18 | Nottm Forest | 8 | -10 | 5 |
| 19 | West Ham | 8 | -12 | 4 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 8 | -11 | 2 |
Preamble
A six pointer? Or a six pinter? West Ham were absolutely awful on Monday against Brentford and there was an air of circling the drain at the London Stadium. They face a Leeds team circling the bottom three, kicking off in 16th. Last week at Burnley was a disappointment, and have only beaten basement club since the opening day of the season. Then again, those are the games they need to win. It could be grim viewing, but let’s look on the bright side, it could be fun.
Kick off at 8pm at Elland Road. Join me.
