West Ham: Nuno Espirito Santo's lack of faith is highlighting his biggest problem | OneFootball

The new manager has opted to look elsewhere for answers after Niclas Fullkrug’s injury

Even in defeat Nuno Espirito Santo was adamant that his decision to make five changes to the starting lineup against Brentford was the right one.

Nuno’s assertions, particularly considering he made three changes to his defence at half-time, will be dissected and deliberated over the coming days.

However, one thing Nuno will struggle to argue against is that West Ham are missing a striker.

Rare sighting: Andy Irving

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With Callum Wilson and Callum Marshall warming the bench, Nuno took a conscious decision not to start a striker, and while West Ham enjoyed a bright opening 15 minutes, they lacked a focal point.

Brentford, in contrast, were thankful to their talismanic frontman Igor Thiago for eventually giving them the lead in the 43rd minute as the Bees’ dominance was rewarded.

Nuno grimaced as Thiago, denied by the offside flag, looked to have doubled Brentford’s lead in first-half stoppage time. What he would do to be able to rely on a striker with such presence.

Fullkrug is Nuno’s first-choice striker, a bruising centre forward with a rocket of a shot, but the 32-year-old, who will miss Friday’s game against Leeds with a thigh injury, can’t stay fit.

Wilson has similarly struggled with his fitness and looked leggy in his only start of the season against Crystal Palace.

Failure: Lucas Paqueta struggled as the focal

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Academy graduate Marshall has found favour under Nuno and was introduced from the bench against Brentford. But with just 58 minutes of Premier League football, thrusting him into the starting line-up seems a lot of responsibility to place on young shoulders.

Nuno can’t be blamed for going with Paqueta up front, he is, after all, West Ham’s joint top scorer in all competitions. It’s the fact that he clearly feels he can’t trust the strikers he has available to him.

With Chris Wood’s goals, Nuno was able to guide Nottingham Forest to Europe last season with a devastating counterattacking style.

At West Ham, he simply doesn’t have that option available to him, with neither Fullkrug nor Wilson mobile enough or reliable enough to lead the line and Marshall still finding his feet as a Premier League player.

West Ham carry a threat on the counter thanks to Crysencio Summerville and left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, whose rampaging run to set up Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser away to Everton is exactly the sort of dynamic play Nuno wants to promote.

However, without a striker to feed off, West Ham struggle to create chances - they produced one shot on target against Brentford, and they will continue to find themselves on the back foot in games.