AdminJamie Carragher has accused Nuno Espírito Santo of making a “big mistake” after West Ham United’s crushing defeat to Newcastle United left their survival hopes hanging by a thread.
The Hammers travelled to St James’ Park desperately needing a result but were blown away inside the opening stages. Nick Woltemade fired Newcastle ahead after just 14 minutes before Will Osula doubled the advantage four minutes later.
Osula struck again shortly after the restart, and although Taty Castellanos produced a stunning finish, it proved nothing more than a consolation in a damaging 3-1 defeat.
Nuno opted to stick with the back-three system that had shown signs of promise against Arsenal the previous weekend, but Carragher believes the decision backfired badly.
“Nuno knows this system brilliantly,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “He used it so often with Wolves, but the real success [at West Ham] has come with 4-4-2.
“So it was a big mistake what he did and he realised that after 25-30 minutes, but it was too late.”
Carragher also pointed to West Ham’s alarming record with the system. The defeat to Newcastle made it six games without a win using a back three or back five, with losses against Leeds, Arsenal and Newcastle alongside draws against Bournemouth, Brighton and Manchester City.
The result leaves West Ham staring at relegation to the Championship, with Tottenham now needing only a point from their final two matches to confirm the Hammers’ fate.
Attention has also turned towards Nuno’s future. Reports suggest there is a break clause in the Portuguese coach’s contract which allows either party to walk away if relegation is confirmed. Crucially, there is also understood to be no compensation clause attached.
While plenty of blame has been directed towards the players and recruitment, Carragher believes tactical decisions like the one seen at Newcastle have only accelerated West Ham’s slide towards the second tier.
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