Oliver Scarles at centre of ‘extraordinary’ reveal live on talkSPORT in West Ham loss vs Brentford
Oliver Scarles was handed a rare start for West Ham as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were beaten by Brentford on Monday.
West Ham lost 2-0 to Brentford at the London Stadium, with Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen scoring to sink the Hammers into further frailty.
The Irons can be thankful that they were not served a more embarrassing result, mustering up just one shot on target throughout the game.
Nuno was considering a system change for West Ham during the international break, with the Portuguese coach reportedly looking at a three-at-the-back formation.
However, Nuno made several changes to his line-up against Brentford, but retained the system that had lost to Arsenal before the break.
‘Crazy’ Oliver Scarles decision bemusing
When Nuno‘s starting line-up emerged, fans were confused as to the coach’s decisions on several players across the pitch.
Andy Irving looked set to leave West Ham in the summer, but the midfielder was handed his first start of the season against Brentford.
Lucas Paqueta was started in a false nine position, despite Jarrod Bowen, who has played through the middle on several occasions, appearing on the right and natural strikers Callum Wilson and Callum Marshall sitting on the bench.
Most confusing, however, was what Nuno decided to do with Kyle Walker-Peters and Oliver Scarles.
The pair started over Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf, which on the face of it, was not hugely controversial, but Nuno bizarrely decided to play Scarles on the right, and Walker-Peters on the left.
Speaking live to talkSPORT on Monday, Adrian Durham revealed a stat that emphasised just how odd the decision was.
“Our team have done their research,” Durham said when discussing Scarles’ position.
“It’s crazy. He’s played 113 games, including youth team level, 17 for the first team, but none of those at right-back. Extraordinary.”
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Nuno Espirito Santo does not have time to experiment
Nuno corrected his mistake at half-time, bringing on both Diouf and Wan-Bissaka to play in their natural positions.
But the damage was already done. West Ham had gone behind, and could not get back into the game.
| Oliver Scarles | vs Brentford (H) | Kyle Walker-Peters |
| 45 | Minutes played | 45 |
| 10/11 | Accurate passes | 10/12 |
| 28 | Touches | 21 |
| 4 | Clearances | 4 |
| 4/8 | Duels won | 2/4 |
| 0 | Fouls |
It is hard to blame Nuno for attempting to shake things up – West Ham are in desperate need of a spark – but with the Hammers now five without a win, and sitting 19th in the Premier League, it is not the time for experimentation.
A system change, perhaps, would not go amiss, but there are limited luxuries the Irons can afford.
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