Credit: Imago

Jacob Raw

Sun 26 October 2025 7:31, UK

West Ham are facing a real possibility of relegation to the Championship this season.

Nuno Espirito Santo is already facing pressure at West Ham, as the Hammers are yet to pick up their first victory under the former Nottingham Forest boss in four games.

West Ham’s 2-1 loss to Leeds on Friday night has only made matters worse, as Nuno‘s side failed to show any quality against a newly promoted side.

Vladimir Coufal has defended Tomas Soucek, as the former West Ham player exchanged words with Hammers fans on social media after the loss to Leeds.

Now, ex-Hammers midfielder and former England international, Michael Carrick, was speaking on Match of the Day to discuss his thoughts on West Ham.

Michael Carrick thinks West Ham have a chance with their front four

West Ham’s attack has been questioned this season, and under Nuno, things still don’t seem to be clicking in the final third.

Niclas Fullkrug has come under fire, as the German forward has failed to impress since arriving at the London Stadium, and is now sidelined through injury.

• West Ham have only scored twice in Nuno’s first four games in charge
• The Hammers only created 0.65 xG against Leeds
• Nuno’s side created no big chances against the Whites on Friday night

Interestingly, Carrick, when speaking on MOTD, alluded to West Ham’s front four as being “dangerous”, despite the struggle for goals.

Carrick said: “It’s interesting because, if you take away perspective of league position, if you give me that front four of Wilson, Paqueta, Summerville, and Bowen, I’d say that is a really dangerous front four.

“There’s a lot to put the team together to go with that, but as a front four, I think there is a real threat in there.”

While Carrick may be right in the fact that there is quality in West Ham’s front four, it wouldn’t necessarily matter if they were firing anyway, as Nuno’s defence is the biggest worry.

• Read more: ‘West Ham fans will completely disagree with what I think needs to happen with Wan-Bissaka’

Defence should be the biggest worry for Nuno Espirito Santo

At Nottingham Forest, Nuno built his success on a backline that was hard to break down.

Now it may not be his fault, due to the players West Ham have recruited, but Nuno’s defence looks anything but a solid defensive unit, and that should be the biggest worry.

So far in the Premier League this season, West Ham have already conceded a whopping 20 goals, with seven let in while Nuno has been in charge.

Nuno needs to go back to basics with West Ham’s defence and try his best to build a solid backline with what he has to work with before hoping for recruits in January.

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