As West Ham United prepare to face Everton in what will be Nuno Espírito Santo’s debut in charge, all eyes will be on the Portuguese coach to see whether he can arrest the slide that has defined the club’s troubled start to the 2025–26 season.
With the club languishing near the bottom of the Premier League, fan unrest simmering, and the managerial carousel turning yet again, Nuno inherits a volatile situation. But his arrival also brings cautious optimism that a reset might finally be underway.
Nuno was officially appointed on 27 September 2025, just hours after the club parted ways with Graham Potter following a dismal run of results. He has signed a three-year deal and is expected to take over against Everton away in his first game.
Potter, who lasted only about nine months, leaves behind a squad that has conceded heavily — 13 goals in the first five games — and shown little consistency in attack or defensive structure.
The scale of the task is evident. West Ham currently sit 19th in the league, with four losses in their first five matches, and have already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup. They have also failed to win at their London Stadium since February — a dismal home record that adds pressure on players and coaching staff alike.
Off the pitch, supporters have become increasingly fractious toward the club’s ownership, and the timing of Potter’s dismissal — so close to a matchday — has drawn criticism for its lack of decorum.
Nuno arrives from Nottingham Forest, where he guided the club to a remarkable seventh-place finish and Europa League qualification in the 2024–25 season — their first European berth in nearly 30 years. Yet his departure from Forest was foreshadowed by a breakdown in relations with the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, even though on the pitch his tenure had been ambitious and largely successful.
Some insiders have described the relationship as “broken communication” by the time of his exit. Though his firing came only a few weeks ago, West Ham’s board moved quickly to secure him, suggesting they saw in him a manager capable of stabilizing the club.
From the moment he was introduced, Nuno signaled his priorities: first, he must establish familiarity with his squad. “I’m trying to, as soon as possible, know all the players,” he told West Ham TV. “Many of them, we faced each other before and now it’s preparing for the game, a tough game against Everton.”
He also emphasized that the club must rediscover an identity. “First of all, we have to realise who we are, and then we can create an identity. But first of all, we have to know each other really, really well,” he said. He made clear that while the bond with the supporters will matter greatly, now is not the moment to talk to fans — it’s the moment to deliver for them. “Now is not the moment to ask the fans. Now is the moment to deliver to the fans,” he asserted.
Tactically, many anticipate a shift from Potter’s possession-oriented approach to a more compact, reactive style — one where West Ham may cede initiative, sit deeper, and strike on transitions.
Analysts suggest this approach is more in line with Nuno’s previous work, including at Forest and Wolves, and may offer a pragmatic corrective to a defense that has leaked goals at an alarming rate. His Premier League record is notable — his points per game and win percentages are among the best in West Ham’s modern managerial landscape.
He has repeatedly demonstrated that he can lift mid-tier or struggling clubs into European places through tight organization and discipline. For West Ham, a side that has overrelied on key attackers like Jarrod Bowen and struggled to replace Mohammed Kudus, his system might bring more balance.
Still, constraints are evident — West Ham lack the same firepower on the wings as in some of his past squads, and there remain concerns over squad depth and defensive vulnerabilities.
In his first game, Nuno is unlikely to completely overhaul the squad or the style — there simply isn’t enough time. But what he can aim for is more structure, greater cohesion, and signs of discipline and fight.
Observers will look for a more rigid defensive shape, faster transition moments, and whether players understand their roles in a reset system. If the team shows signs of defiance and tactical clarity, it may be enough to build momentum.
Opponents Everton, meanwhile, are a familiar foil: they happen to be managed by David Moyes, who previously led West Ham to their long-awaiting European breakthrough via the Conference League. Their former manager, now in the opposition dugout, surely adds emotional nuance to this fixture. Even before his arrival, fans and pundits expected his debut to draw comparisons with Moyes’s era.
Should Nuno’s side emerge with a clean sheet and even a narrow win or draw, it would be lauded as a successful first step. A loss, however, especially one that is tactically limp or disjointed, would revive criticism of the board’s decision and reopen questions over whether West Ham’s troubles run deeper than managerial appointments.
Historical context underscores the importance of a positive start. West Ham have endured frequent managerial turnover in recent seasons: in the 16 months prior to Nuno’s arrival, the club had already appointed three managers in succession — David Moyes, Julen Lopetegui, and then Graham Potter.
Stability has been elusive. The club hope that Nuno’s longer contract and his record of steady improvement at prior clubs can break the cycle.