Nuno Espirito Santo has opened up on the decision to start with Taty Castellanos and Joel Piroe on the bench during West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat by West Brom, with Pablo supported by Mohamadou Kante once again.

In three of their last four Championship matches, Nuno has omitted his £27 million Argentina international and the 2024/25 Golden Boot winner. Instead, opting to start a man with one league goal in West Ham United colours up top as the sole number nine.

Nuno Espirito Santo was asked on talkSPORT, as the Hammers slipped to eighth, why he has moved away from the two-striker season with which he began the campaign. A system in which Piroe and Taty wreaked havoc against Wrexham; glimpses of a thrilling partnership which now feels like a false dawn.

Joel Piroe and Taty Castellanos sacrificed as Nuno’s West Ham United tactics backfire

Nuno admits that the decision to leave Pablo up top, with Kante often the nearest to him, was because he wanted the Hammers to have more control in the centre of the park.

“Look, we started the season basically with two strikers,” the head coach says. “We felt there were games where we needed an extra body in the middle. Mo [Kante] came in and did really well. He’s in a good moment.

“So having all the options, trying to start one way and then change to another way… Having offensive options is good, but we are more concerned now to try and solve the major problem that we have, which is [conceding] six [sic five] goals in two games. It’s the priority.”

The most worrying part of Nuno’s explanation is that – quite simply – it didn’t have the desired effect. West Brom shaded the possession stats today, even if the home side produced 76 more passes.

The manager wanted more bodies in the middle, yet the struggling Arne Engels was often isolated with Mukasa and Kante pushing up extremely high. It was not so much a 4-3-3, more of a 4-1-6 when the Hammers had possession. No wonder West Brom found it so easy to break through, as demonstrated by Felix Horn Myhre’s straightforward opener after 20 minutes. And for all of Pablo’s good work off the ball again – pressing high as ever and strong with his back to goal – the Hammers lacked much of a goal threat aside from Bowen’s deflected effort.