West Ham United manager Nuno Espírito Santo has issued a public apology to the club's supporters following what he described as an "embarrassing" 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
‘I don’t recall one day that I felt so bad’
The Portuguese boss stated the loss was his most painful experience in football. Nuno, who has won just two of his 15 Premier League games in charge since replacing Graham Potter in September, said he was compelled to say sorry, particularly to the travelling fans. "I have to apologise to the fans. For those that travelled, it was embarrassing," he admitted. "There’s not much I can say other than we are sorry. We are sorry because what we showed was not good enough. Today was the worst performance we had."
The result leaves West Ham in a perilous position, four points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who they face in a crucial match this Tuesday. The Hammers are now winless in their last nine matches across all competitions.
A Historic Low for Manager and Club
The statistics from the match and the season make for grim reading. Wolves, who started the day at the bottom of the table, secured their first Premier League victory of the campaign. Alarmingly for West Ham, they failed to register a single shot on target against a defence that had not kept a clean sheet all season prior to this game.
Further historical context adds to Nuno's woes. He has now gone 26 consecutive Premier League games without a clean sheet across his tenures at Nottingham Forest and West Ham. He also holds the unwanted record of being the first manager in Premier League history to lose against the team starting the day bottom with two different clubs in the same season, having also lost 3-0 with Forest to West Ham in August.
Fighting Talk Amidst the Crisis
Despite the crushing nature of the defeat and the intense scrutiny on his future, Nuno insisted he has the determination to turn the situation around. When asked if he had the desire to carry on, he responded, "Of course. It’s not about my future. It’s about how we can get out of this situation, how we can improve and get the results that make us climb the table."
He emphasised that the immediate focus is on internal reflection and finding solutions. Defender Konstantinos Mavropanos echoed the sentiment that the responsibility lies with the players, stating, "The only people who can change the situation is us. We have to bounce back as quick as possible."
The full-time whistle saw Nuno head straight down the tunnel without the customary handshake with Wolves manager Rob Edwards, though the pair did meet afterwards. With a critical fixture against a direct relegation rival looming, the pressure on Nuno Espírito Santo and his West Ham squad has reached a fever pitch.
