West Ham: Nuno Espírito Santo under pressure, but not yet sacked

Nuno Espírito Santo’s situation at West Ham has become more tense, but his departure has not been announced. In an article published on Monday 2 November, the Guardian reports that figures at the club are growing impatient after the start to the season and the 3-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. Based on anonymous internal sources, the report describes mounting pressure, not a decision by the board. Wednesday’s trip to Cardiff therefore becomes an immediate test for a manager who remains in post and a team aiming for promotion to the Premier League.

Reported pressure, not a confirmed sacking

The new development is the Guardian’s report, published on 2 November, of a threat to Nuno’s future. The British newspaper says the manager is expected to be given time to turn things around, while also citing impatience among club officials. It adds that any decision would be collective, involving, among others, interim chief executive Karim Virani and director of recruitment Nils Koppen. At the time of writing, West Ham had issued no statement announcing a sacking or formal process.

The distinction matters: the Guardian article is based on reporting, but the details of internal discussions cannot be publicly verified. It is therefore accurate to say that the manager’s position is under threat according to the newspaper, not that he has already been condemned. After Saturday’s match, Nuno himself acknowledged that his team needed to address its problems and get back to winning results. In Sky Sports’ match report, he stresses the need to improve the performance and stop conceding so much at home. These are public statements, not confirmation from the board about his future.

West Brom punish recurring flaws

The 31 October defeat provides a factual basis for the discussion. At the London Stadium, West Ham lost 3-1 after conceding in the 20th minute, equalising through Jarrod Bowen in the 29th, then conceding again in the 48th and 72nd minutes. West Ham’s official match report confirms the result and the scorers: Felix Horn Myhre, Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Callum Styles for West Brom, and Bowen for the hosts. The club says it was their second consecutive home defeat.

Sky Sports’ account describes two telling passages of play: Morgan’s cross finding Myhre for the opening goal, then Morgan’s finish from a Price cross just after half-time. West Ham had equalised before the break, but failed to shore up their defence after the restart. These incidents alone are not enough to explain an entire season; they do, however, show how a team can lose control of a match despite a brief response. Nuno’s challenge is therefore not limited to changing names in the starting XI: he needs to make his team’s starts and protection of the penalty area more reliable.

A fall in the table, but no irreversible slide

After 13 rounds, West Ham are eighth. The table published by the English Football League has the Hammers on 22 points, behind Swansea, second on 23, and West Brom, fourth on 21. The margins remain tight: the defeat cost West Ham ground, but they are still close to the top places. That creates a particular tension between the urgency of a relegated club targeting immediate promotion and a competition that remains close enough for a handful of results to quickly change the pecking order.

The Guardian reports that West Ham have won two of their last six matches and points to problems with consistency, including a lack of clean sheets and goals conceded first. This editorial assessment should be considered alongside the table: the team remain in the wider group of leading sides, but their recent results have not provided the margin their target demands. The pressure therefore stems not only from their position in the table, but also from the contrast between the club’s resources and ambitions, on the one hand, and their home performances, on the other.

Nuno’s responsibility and the limits of the assessment

Nuno arrived at West Ham in September 2025 after Graham Potter was sacked, then kept his job to lead the promotion project following relegation. The Guardian believes the team have yet to find a settled starting XI or a sufficiently clear playing identity. That is the newspaper’s analysis, not a finding shared by every source. The match against West Brom illustrates at least one specific problem: West Ham conceded three goals and failed to turn their spells of pressure into a comeback.

However, it would be excessive to attribute every shortcoming to the manager alone. The absence of defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, who injured his knee in the previous match, led to the young Airidas Golambeckis starting against West Brom, according to Sky Sports’ match report. That fact does not erase the collective errors or Nuno’s decisions, but it does put the assessment in context: defensive solidity also depends on the players available and how the squad compensates for absences. The sources consulted do not allow us to conclude that a replacement is already being sought or that a decision has been made behind the scenes.

Cardiff, the first concrete test

The upcoming fixtures give this uncertainty an imminent deadline. West Ham travel to Cardiff on Wednesday, then Blackburn on Saturday, before the international break, according to the schedule cited by the Guardian and information from the club after the West Brom match. Two away games give Nuno an opportunity to respond with results, but also provide a tactical test: his team will need to show they can start faster, defend more compactly and hold on to a lead or a draw without exposing themselves to opposition transitions.

For West Ham, the useful response is not to turn a newspaper article into a premature verdict. The established facts are a troubling defeat and eighth place; the reported fact is growing impatience within the club; what remains unknown is the precise threshold at which the board would act. The matches against Cardiff and Blackburn should clarify whether this is mainly a poor run of form or a structural problem that Nuno cannot fix. Until then, he is under pressure — but remains in post.