Nuno Espirito Santo Backs West Ham To Improve After Promising Everton Performance

‎Nuno Espirito Santo began his tenure as West Ham United manager with a 1-1 draw against Everton on Monday, where he saw encouraging signs of improvement.

‎The result came after a poor start to the Premier League season that ultimately cost Graham Potter his job. Appointed just two days earlier, the Portuguese coach knows there is still plenty of work ahead to revive the team’s fortunes.

‎He had little time to instill his usual defensively sound counter-attacking style, but whatever he did manage to do paid dividends in the draw on Merseyside.

‎”Our message today was very clearly about competing as a team, being close to each other, and the boys did well. I think overall it is a good first, first game for us,” the 51-year-old Portuguese coach said.

‎”This game is going to be the tool, the main tool, for us to move forward. Now we’re going to analyse it. It’s all about knowing the players better, trying to make the right decisions at the right moment.”

‎West Ham’s defense at set pieces remains a focus, as they conceded a goal from a corner once again. Nonetheless, Espirito Santo saw plenty to work with as his side pulled a goal back in the second half to secure a draw.

‎”It’s all about competing, every ball matters, the message was clear, and the boys are slowly, I think, understanding that a football match is also about how we close (down the route to) our own goal, how many chances we concede,” he explained.

‎The end goal will be to create the kind of well-drilled team that has previously been his signature in the Premier League during spells with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest.

‎”It’s so difficult, it’s so hard, it takes so much time (to build a team), and our approach is simple day by day, the best of us, the best of us every day,” he said.