Cliff Notes – Nuno eager to make London Stadium a fortress despite protests
- Nuno Espirito Santo urges West Ham fans to create a challenging atmosphere at the London Stadium, despite ongoing protests against the club’s board.
- Following a win over Newcastle, fans expressed discontent with the board, gathering for a sit-in protest lasting up to 40 minutes post-match.
- Nuno emphasised the importance of fan support and aims to improve team performance to foster a more positive relationship with supporters.
Nuno eager to make London Stadium a fortress despite protests
LONDON — Nuno Espirito Santo has called for West Ham fans to “transform” the London Stadium into a “very hard place for opponents” despite a sit-in protest after his side’s win over Newcastle on Sunday.
Five designated areas across the London Stadium saw West Ham fans gather for up to 40 minutes after the full-time whistle to voice their frustrations towards the club’s board, particularly vice-chair Karren Brady and chairman David Sullivan.
On the pitch it was much more of a positive afternoon for Nuno’s side as goals from Lucas Paquetá and Tomáš Souček either side of a Sven Botman own goal cancelled out Jacob Murphy’s early opener to give West Ham their first home points of the season.
“Our idea is to try and give something to our fans. And today we did give them a small thing and the way they give us back was huge and in the end the noise in the London Stadium was amazing,” Nuno told a news conference.
“So we cannot thank them enough. So let’s try against Burnley, give them a little bit more so they can make more noise. And we try to transform the London Stadium, [into] a very hard place for our opponents.”
West Ham fans protested against their board at London Stadium on Sunday. Getty
When asked about the protest in the stands postmatch Nuno chose to focus on his team’s performance.
“I think the fans saw something in the team today and this is what we want, this is how we should look at the situation,” he said.
“How can we as a team, show to our fans that we want to fight, we want to change [the] situation.
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“We want to make things tough for our opponents. We want to change our game, we want to improve our game. The fans [we] cannot thank them enough.”
The protest comes amid regular shows of opposition from West Ham’s fans to their club’s board with Nuno’s first home game against Brentford played against the backdrop of empty seats with many choosing to boycott the fixture.
West Ham host Burnley next weekend before a trip to Bournemouth after the November international break as they look to build a steady stream of momentum, something that they have not been able to find yet this season.