This might be the first international break in some time that West Ham United fans can’t wait for it to end.
The East Londoners are still in the Premier League relegation zone, but following back-to-back wins, there is a sense of optimism that they can avoid a protracted fight for survival this year.
After all, Nuno Espirtio Santo took Nottingham Forest from near the bottom of the table to Europa League football in a season and a half; why can’t he achieve something similar at the London Stadium?
However, before fans get carried away, there are still a number of players who need to be moved on from the squad, including one flop previously compared to Andrea Pirlo.
West Ham's biggest losers since Nuno arrived
After a slightly rocky start, Nuno does look to have finally stabilised and improved things at West Ham.
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However, while the team appears to be somewhat on the up, and the fans are starting to feel justifiably optimistic about what the rest of the campaign could bring, some players have lost out due to the appointment of the Portuguese coach.
For example, while James Ward-Prowse was a constant feature in Graham Potter’s midfield, he hasn’t played a minute under the new regime.
In fact, the former Southampton captain hasn’t even been named in a single squad, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering Nuno also froze him out when he was on loan at the City Ground last year.
Another Potter signing who has had no luck under the Sao-Tome-born boss is Igor Julio.
The Brazilian centre-back joined the Hammers on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion on deadline day, and so far has played 13 minutes of football under his new boss, which came in three short appearances off the bench.
What makes this worse is the fact that Konstantinos Mavropanos has been out injured for almost a month, and even so, he has still been limited to a bit-part role at best.
Finally, although this may be a bit harsh, the manager appears to have lost faith in Soungoutou Magassa.
The Frenchman started his first two games in charge, but has since played just 30 minutes of action across the last four league games, thanks to two substitutions.
With that said, he’s still young and clearly talented, so there is every chance Nuno will eventually use him more often, which cannot be said for a West Ham flop who was once compared to Pirlo, but now needs to be sold as soon as possible.
The West Ham flop compared to Pirlo
The midfield pairing of Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes, which has worked so well in recent games, has made it evident that West Ham need to get rid of their other midfield options, who have looked way off it this season: Andrew Irving.
The Hammers signed the Scotsman in the summer of 2023 from Austrian outfit Klagenfurt, and while it wasn’t really a big deal at the time, there was a hope he’d prove to be a bargain buy, especially as he’d been compared to the legendary Pirlo in the past.
Yes, while it was certainly tongue-in-cheek, he was given the nickname ‘Portobello Pirlo’ by the fans during his time with Scottish outfit Hearts, where he made 61 appearances, scoring five goals and providing 13 assists.
Unfortunately, while he was probably deserving of the comparison north of the border, he hasn’t shown any Pirlo-esque quality in the capital.
In fact, in the words of journalist Jordan Rushworth, he has looked more like a “National League standard” midfielder, adding that he “gets walked past every time an opposition midfielder has the ball.”
While harsh and probably a little over the top, the 25-year-old has looked miles off it in Claret and Blue, and was starting in the middle of the park during Nuno’s struggles against Brentford and Leeds United.
In fact, it was in the aftermath of the former that Jamie Carragher described the Hammers as “one of the slowest teams I’ve seen in Premier League history!”
This lack of dynamism in the middle of the park was largely down to the once-capped Scotsman, and his statistics from that game did not make for pleasant reading.
In his 61 minutes of inaction, he played a single key pass, misplaced four of five crosses, lost 100% of his tackles, didn’t make a single interception, clearance or block, and lost 100% of his aerial duels.
Minutes
61′
Expected Assists
0.02
Key Passes
1
Shots
0
Crosses (Accurate)
5 (1)
Ground Duels (Won)
4 (2)
Aerial Duels (Won)
2 (0)
Tackles (Won)
2 (0)
Clearances
0
Interceptions
0
Blocks
0
Ultimately, Irving has been really quite poor for West Ham this season, and with far better options currently doing the business for Nuno, he should be sold in January.
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