Santo Faces Intense Pressure
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West Ham’s 3-0 loss to Wolves on Saturday not only solidified their position in the relegation zone but further exacerbated the turmoil at the club. This defeat at Molineux marked Nuno Espírito Santo’s fifteenth match in charge and potentially his last, as he has managed to secure only two wins and five draws to this point. Since taking over from Graham Potter, Santo’s squad has garnered just 11 points in the league, ranking as the third least successful return in the top tier, now leaving West Ham four points behind safety.
“I can’t recall a day on the pitch that has made me feel as bad as today,” the West Ham manager said following the defeat. “I owe an apology to the fans. For those who traveled, it was an embarrassing display. There isn’t much I can say other than that we are sorry. What we showed was simply not good enough. This was our worst performance.” While there have been reports suggesting former manager Slaven Bilic could be brought back to salvage the season, The Athletic later clarified that the club has no plans to dismiss Santo immediately.
However, loyalty in football has its limits, and West Ham is undeniably at serious risk of relegation this season. Currently sitting in third place from the bottom and just two points above Burnley, the team’s low point total at this stage is unprecedented in their recent history. The graphic above illustrates that West Ham has never had fewer points after 20 league matches in the last 15 seasons.
In fact, this is the lowest points tally for the club at this stage since their return to the Premier League in 2012. Interestingly, during their relegation season in 2010/11, they had picked up three more points than they currently have. While the club has faced similar struggles — collecting 15 points after 20 matches in the 2002, 2013, and 2023 campaigns — they’ve never recorded as few points as they have this season in the Premier League era.
To address this crisis, the club is taking immediate action in the January transfer window. Having already spent €52 million on two strikers — Gil Vicente’s Pablo and Lazio’s star Taty Castellanos — West Ham hopes that these acquisitions can inject some much-needed goals into a squad that has yet to produce a single player in double digits for goals this season. However, whether these moves will be sufficient to reverse the current disaster remains to be seen.
