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kumb.com · unknown author · 2026-08-28T22:09:09+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Nuno Espirito Santo takes his team around the M25 tomorrow as the Hammers search for their first victory in this season's Championship schedule.
The Portuguese manager has seen his side beat Portsmouth and Southampton comfortably in the Carabao Cup, but is still waiting to witness his first league win of the season follow a draw at Burnley and defeat at home to Charlton Athletic last weekend.And during his pre-match press conference at Rush Green on Friday afternoon, Espirito Santo answered questions on squad availability, player departures, the transfer window and using youth - pll,.us many more, all of which you may read below.
Q: Can I just start by asking about team news? Is anyone available or not available who was previously?
NES: We have available. We have players not available. We have still one session to assess, but we have players that are in doubt now. Let's wait and see.
Q: Do we know who's in doubt?
NES: I understand your question, but let's keep it this way. Wwe have still one training session today.
Q: Two players definitely not available, James Ward-Prowse and Malick Diouf both left today. Diouf particularly, is he someone you'd have liked to have kept total or is this the reality of going down?
NES: No, it's not. This is the reality of the industry, players move. What we know is that is done and we wish them all the best in their future clubs and their careers.
Q: Does that leave a bit of a hole at left back, with Diouf leaving?
NES: No, we still have a transfer window open and the club is working very hard to bring what we believe still we need to balance better our squad. So we make sure that after 1 September we are ready to face all the difficulties that we're going to face through the season. That's the priority of the club now, we try to balance the squad properly.
Q: So it closes on Tuesday. So we're expecting more business between now and then?
NES: Yes, of course, of course, of course.
Q: We spoke to Finlay Herrick after the win on Tuesday. He described it as a momentum starter. How important is it for you and the team to take that result on Tuesday and build on it into this weekend?
NES: Yes, it's important. It gives us confidence. I think the boys played good, we competed well but we know that Saturday is going to be a new game against Watford that is a strong team. So what is important is to trust, to keep working very hard, to commit ourselves to our tasks. And you go game by game, trying to build, trying to build momentum, trying to build better things. Players that join later to gel better, to connect, to start knowing each other better; young lads having their chances and we are building, we are trying to make sure that tomorrow we compete well again.
Q: And you said young lads there, you had quite a few young players not just feature on Tuesday but play really, really well. Was that really enjoyable for you to see?
NES: Oh yes, of course it is. They are part of the squad. They are here since we started. Many of them work for us half of the season by season, improving a lot of talent/prospects that we have to understand that they need time. They need time to improve. They need time to build their confidence. We cannot expect them to do everything immediately, so it's a process, but we are behind them too. Also, the senior players are being very, very helpful for them. What better example for young lads to have than experienced and talented players training every day with you? They just look around and take advantage of it.
Q: Does it give you a good selection headache to have going into this weekend? So many of those young players played so well.
NES: We started the season against Portsmouth. We all knew that in that moment we needed players. Then we went to Burnley, we still needed players, players arrived. And we are building and we are trusting them. It's good to have doubts of selection. That shows that we have options. But at the same time, make sure that we always have a team that competes, competes, competes. The game lasts 90 minutes and this is a long season.
Q: You mentioned the senior players that they're learning from. Taty Castellanos missed the penalty last weekend but was on the scoresheet on Tuesday. How significant is that for his confidence, do you think?
NES: Yeah, but Taty is football. Football is up and down. You have good moments, bad moments. It's how we react on the bad moments. Tati did it immediately, bounced back, scored. He's ready again.
Q: You won both League Cup games, two games into the Championship season though, one draw, one defeat. Is that still like a reminder of just how difficult this league is?
NES: It's not a reminder, it's reality. We are aware that in the league the results are not coming. Playing good or bad, that doesn't really matter, it's important for us to evaluate how we did things. We compete well, but we need to improve. And that was the proof of it. This league punishes you and we have to be ready. We must improve and we are trying to do it as soon as possible.
Q: You've managed in the league before, a long time ago and some of your players have played in the league as well. There's a lot of players who haven't played in the league. Is it fair to say you're in a period of re-adjustment right now?
NES: I will not say re-adjustment. I t's trying to build a team that is ready to compete. This is the more important thing. It's not readjusting to the competition, it's realising how we want to be as a team and that takes, first of all, confidence in the process. Confidence. Every training session is a good chance to improve. Every training session is a good chance to build momentum. So we are trying this way. This is our path.
Q: What is the most significant difference to managing in the Premier League last season and managing in the Championship now that you've noticed?
NES: No difference. It's 24 hours a day work, hard work. This is how we do it!
Q: What about Watford tomorrow? Very small sample size, of course. They've not had very many games under their new manager. But what do you make of that?
NES: A very good team, a very competitive team, good players, their own stadium. We know how hard it's going to be. So it's a good team, good team that we analyse, but we want to compete. Every day is a chance to compete, to prepare ourselves.
Q: Have you chatted with the guys about how much they want to get that first Championship win of the season tomorrow?
NES: We speak about it every day. Football is about playing good and getting results. This is what we're chasing tomorrow.
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