Daniel Kretinsky will laugh to the West Ham bank as De Zerbi takes aim at Spurs star | OneFootball

The Hammers will be delighted to see Mateus Fernandes have such a poor start to life at Spurs.

Heading into the extended international break, West Ham will be overly optimistic about the start they’ve made on their Championship return.

Against bitter rivals Millwall last weekend, the Hammers came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at The Den, as strikes from Mohamadou Kante and Konstantinos Mavropanos earned them another precious point that most of the West Ham faithful would have taken after falling a couple of goals behind.

That point keeps the Hammers in the top two, with Nuno Espírito Santo’s men taking 15 points from their opening eight league games and sitting just two points off Swansea City at the summit.

What will also give West Ham fans great joy is the start to life made by some of their players that left the London Stadium this summer and were not up for the challenge of the Championship like club captain Jarrod Bowen was.

Mateus Fernandes is the prime example, who, following West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League, swiftly shifted his allegiances to fellow London outfit Tottenham Hotspur, for a reported fee of £85m.

Such a big boost to the coffers from a West Ham perspective, it’ll be even more pleasing to see the start he’s made to life in North London, with Spurs currently rock bottom of the division and Fernandes called out by his own manager Roberto De Zerbi for his latest display.

West Ham’s impressive start to the 2026-27 campaign

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After taking some time to settle back in to the rough and tumble of the Championship, West Ham now appear to be finding their feet and will be focused at kicking on and cementing themselves in the automatic promotion race once the international break comes to an end.

The Hammers had a rude awakening at the beginning of the campaign, being held by Burnley and Watford while losing at home to Charlton Athletic, with some fearing that the club would be in for a continuous slump following their relegation from the top-flight.

But after securing a first win of the campaign over Wolves, the East London outfit have been flying, winning a further three games on the trot against Derby County, Bolton Wanderers and then a statement 6-0 thrashing of Wrexham.

And tremendous fight was shown at The Den after an awful start, with West Ham now second in the table on 15 points, winning four, drawing three and losing just one of their eight league games so far.

After the break, another tough test will come in the face of Queens Park Rangers, with the Hammers getting the Championship action back underway at the London Stadium on Friday 9th October.

Mateus Fernandes’ poor start to life at Tottenham Hotspur

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With massive pressure on his shoulders to deliver on his £85m price tag, Mateus Fernandes has had a nightmare start to his career at Spurs, failing to show even glimpses of the player he was in the top-flight with West Ham last season.

His debut was certainly one to forget as Spurs were pummelled 3-0 away at Brentford on the opening weekend of the Premier League term, with Fernandes hooked at half-time.

He did play the full 90 minutes on his home debut against Newcastle United, but failed to impact the game as Spurs went down to a 2-0 defeat.

Subsequently, away at Nottingham Forest, in a goalless draw, Fernandes was benched and only played seven minutes, but still found the time to pick up a needless yellow card.

The 22-year-old returned to the starting fold against Everton, but again failed to help the team find a cutting edge as Spurs went six hours of football without scoring a goal, while in their 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa last weekend, he was once again substituted at the break and called out by his own boss for such a pitiful display.

Known for his dangerous efforts from outside the box, Fernandes has shown none of that promise so far, registering just 0.19 xG, winning under half of his duals, committing nine fouls and having a cross success rate of just 22.2%, with all stats as per FotMob.

Roberto De Zerbi criticises Mateus Fernandes performance v Aston Villa

Following another miserable display against Aston Villa that leaves Spurs rock bottom of the Premier League table and one of just two sides without a victory so far this season, Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi was critical of Mateus Fernandes, insisting that Spurs need more from him and that he didn’t like his performance against the Villains.

As reported by the Metro, De Zerbi, when asked if Spurs lost something in midfield with Fernandes off the pitch, replied: “It’s not just that problem. In the second half we lost balance because we were losing and we forced the pass, we forced the situation and they were winning the ball.

“They played more on counter attack. Mateus is different to Kudus, I have big confidence in Mateus but I did not like the performance of Mateus today.

“It’s not an attack of him, I love him, but for Mateus, we need more from Mateus in that position.”

West Ham will be revelling in Spurs, Mateus Fernandes transfer regret

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With no love lost between the West Ham supporters and Mateus Fernandes following his Hammers exit, there will be overwhelming joy at the start the midfielder has made to his Spurs career, with Tottenham once again receiving so much nationwide criticism for spending a lot of money on another player who isn’t producing the goods.

£85m was an eye-watering sum to pay for a player who has already been relegated twice from the Premier League at the age of 22, but you can only pay praise to Daniel Křetínský, who played the negotiation process to absolute perfection and has earned the club an incredible amount of money that helps deal with the fallout of dropping from the Premier League.

While West Ham may not need it, some of that money could be used during the January transfer window, should further arrivals be required, and it could be the type of deal that plays a huge role in getting the Hammers back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.

All connected with West HamWest Ham over the Portuguese midfielder.