Nuno Espirito Santo faced chants of "sacked in the morning" from disgruntled home supporters as West Ham United crashed to a 3-1 defeat against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. The London Stadium reverse saw the Championship promotion favourites drop down to eighth in the standings, with disgruntled fans voicing their anger with boos as chances were squandered at one end and conceded at the other. Addressing his situation post-match, the Portuguese manager remained defiant about his position, stating: "I am always under pressure. Every day."
The setback against the Baggies marks West Brom as the third visiting team across all competitions to leave the London Stadium with a win in West Ham's past four home outings, a run comprising one draw and three losses. Slow starts remain a critical vulnerability for the Hammers, who have now trailed in 10 of their 16 matches in all competitions this campaign. Albion's first goal represented the fourth time West Ham have conceded inside the opening 20 minutes across their previous three home league fixtures. Despite holding a squad meeting before the match to fix the issue, Nuno lamented: "It's very concerning we are conceding the first goal on a regular basis. The message is totally the other way around - the idea is to start the game on the front foot."
West Ham had begun brightly by earning a corner inside 16 seconds, only for Mohamadou Kante to direct a bouncing ball over the bar, before West Brom seized command. Despite glimpses of quality from Jarrod Bowen, Albion's trio of Isaac Price, Jimmy-Jay Morgan, and Felix Horn Myhre controlled proceedings. Defensive frailties have now seen West Ham ship six goals in their last two home games. The hosts keenly felt the absence of Konstantinos Mavropanos, leaving 18-year-old Airidas Golambeckis with a demanding task alongside experienced pair Max Kilman and Morato in the backline.
Back-to-back losses against Southampton and West Brom have left the Irons playing catch-up in the Championship table. Acknowledging the uphill battle, Nuno remarked: "It's very costly for us. We have a clear objective in mind. Every result we don't achieve, we get further away from our objective." Looking ahead, West Ham will travel to face Cardiff on Wednesday, with hopes that Mavropanos could potentially return from the knee injury he picked up against Southampton after Nuno confirmed the key defender is showing positive improvement.