Pundit stunned by Nuno Espirito Santo call during Nottingham Forest defeat to West Ham, ‘it was strange’

Add as preferred source on Google

Nottingham Forest were thrashed 3-0 by West Ham United after a turbulent seven minutes at the end of the contest.

Goals from Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Callum Wilson gave Forest a first defeat of the season and piled the pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo.

Edu and Nuno appear to have had a rift in recent weeks, and Evangelos Marinakis might now have a big decision to make as the Premier League takes a first break for international fixtures to take centre-stage.

Forest boss Espirito Santo expects to be in charge of the Reds after the international break, but now he might well face an anxious few days with the transfer window due to slam shut tomorrow and the speculation rife over his future.

• READ MORE: Nottingham Forest make shock announcement before West Ham clash

Perry Groves stunned by Nottingham Forest decision

The game was a disaster from a Forest point of view, and far too many players simply had days to forget, and it robbed the Reds of a memorable start to the season.

One player who didn’t manage to get on the pitch was Omari Hutchinson and Perry Groves said on TalkSPORT that it was a huge error of judgement by Espirito Santo.

He said: “Nottingham Forest played pretty well last week at Crystal Palace, but today, they put James McAtee on but this game was tailor-made for Omari Hutchinson.

“He has the ability to unlock defences and that was something Forest couldn’t do against West Ham. I thought it was strange that he wasn’t put on from the bench sooner.”

Espirito Santo’s substitutes ruin Forest chances

Having players like Hutchinson and Arnaud Kalimuendo sitting on the bench makes little sense when players aren’t producing the goods on the pitch.

McAtee had a decent outing when he stepped off the bench in place of Dan Ndoye, but he’s not a winger, and with options galore, square pegs in round holes cannot become the norm.

Hutchinson perhaps deserved more time, and Espirito Santo had to be brave with his substitutes at 0-0, and ultimately, he’s been reactive rather than proactive once again.

The talented youngster cost Forest £37.5 million and it’s absolutely no use whatsoever having him coming on at 2-0 down when the game is all but lost, when he’s more than capable of making an impact in games.