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Big decision made last season cost West Ham against Charlton, Nuno needs to fix it ASAP

West Ham World · James Jones · 2026-08-24T09:49:16+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed West Ham United will reconsider who takes their penalties following Taty Castellanos' costly miss against Charlton Athletic. The Hammers were handed a golden opportunity to rescue a point in the dying seconds at London Stadium on Saturday. Former West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry handled Lewis Orford's effort inside the box in the 92nd minute, leaving referee Andrew Kitchen with little choice but to point to the spot. With captain and usual penalty taker Jarrod Bowen on the pitch, many would've expected the England international to step forward. Instead, Castellanos took responsibility. The Argentine sent goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo the wrong way but rolled his effort against the base of the post as West Ham fell to a damaging 2-1 defeat. Now Nuno has admitted the penalty-taking order could change before West Ham's next game. Nuno to reconsider West Ham penalty taker Speaking after the defeat, Nuno was asked by The Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas why Castellanos had taken the penalty ahead of Bowen. "We trust Taty to take the penalties," the West Ham boss said. But when asked whether the striker is now the club's designated penalty taker, Nuno's response was telling. "I don't know, for the next game we have to decide." So it appears West Ham's penalty hierarchy is now up for discussion. Bowen converted both of the penalties he took in all competitions last season, with one coming in the Premier League. Yet when West Ham desperately needed a goal against Charlton, Castellanos was given the opportunity instead. Jarrod Bowen could regain West Ham penalty duties Exactly why the responsibility moved from Bowen to Castellanos remains unclear, although it's suggested by Thomas that the decision was made after Bowen missed his penalty in the shootout defeat to Leeds United last season. Nuno's comments suggest the decision wasn't simply Castellanos grabbing the ball and deciding he wanted to take it. The manager specifically said West Ham "trust" the striker with penalties. But the immediate admission that they now need to decide who takes the next one suggests Saturday's miss has reopened the conversation. Bowen would be the obvious candidate to take responsibility again. He's West Ham's captain, remains the team's biggest attacking threat and had a perfect penalty record for the club last season. There are other options now, too. Arne Engels arrived from Celtic having regularly taken penalties in Scotland, while new striker Joel Piroe has also taken spot-kicks throughout his career. But the issue isn't necessarily that Castellanos missed, every penalty taker eventually does. It's that West Ham went into one of the biggest moments of Saturday's game with Bowen on the pitch, only for somebody else to suddenly take responsibility. Given Nuno's comments afterwards, the hierarchy clearly isn't as settled as it once appeared. Castellanos miss proved costly against Charlton West Ham had already done much of the hard work required to get themselves back into the contest. Charlton led 2-0 through Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell before debutant Piroe pulled one back in the 74th minute. Nuno's side continued pushing and eventually got the chance they needed deep into stoppage time, but Castellanos fluffed his lines at the death. The miss left West Ham with just one point from their opening two Championship matches after they also surrendered a 2-0 lead at Burnley on the opening weekend. That makes every marginal decision more important. West Ham can't afford to keep passing up opportunities like the one they were handed against Charlton if they're going to challenge for automatic promotion. Nuno now appears ready to revisit one of them. Before West Ham are awarded their next penalty, Nuno has confirmed a decision will have to be made over who gets the ball. Have your say! Who should be West Ham's first-choice penalty taker? Should it be Bowen? Should Taty continue to take them? Have your say in the comments below...