Nuno Targets Two West Ham Areas For Urgent Improvement | OneFootball

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New West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo has gone into training with the Hammers prioritising two specific areas he wants to see improvement from the team in, according to the Evening Standard.

West Ham confirmed the appointment of Nuno on Saturday after Graham Potter was dumped unceremoniously after conducting media duties on Friday, ahead of the Everton game.

Potter lasted less than nine months in the job, despite being backed by David Moyes to succeed, after succeeding Julen Lopetegui who himself managed only 22 games as the Hammers boss.

Nuno became West Ham’s fourth manager in 16 months and led West Ham out at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday evening to take on Everton.

After earning a draw, with the result being only the second time the Hammers have managed to avoid defeat in the league this season, Nuno has until Saturday’s clash with Arsenal to work with his squad on the training ground.

With West Ham leaking goals and having the worst defensive record in the Premier League this season, Nuno is said to have prioritised defensive organisation at training sessions.

Further, with the Hammers also having conceded the most goals from corners, Nuno has also given precedence to set-pieces.

Nuno will work alongside academy coaches Mark Robson, Gerard Prenderville, Billy Lepine and Steve Potts, with West Ham taking their time to get his backroom staff right.

Set-pieces have become a hot topic of debate, not only amongst observers but also amidst managers, with Tottenham boss Thomas Frank stating that they are an integral part of football.

In contrast, Leeds United manager Daniel Farke believes the obsession with specialist set piece coaches is modern hype and does not like the focus on it.

Nuno will be served by the focus on the two areas not only in the long term, but also because they face Arsenal next, a side renowned for exploiting set-piece situations.

Arsenal came back from a goal down against Newcastle United last weekend, with both their goals coming from set-pieces and Nuno will have won half the battle if he can prevent a repeat of that.

Even so, West Ham will take on Arsenal as big underdogs and few will expect Nuno to be able to magic a win against Mikel Arteta’s title contenders.