The customary pre-match press conference faced up by West Ham’s head coach ahead of the trip to Elland Road  turned into a backward-looking dissection of the team’s terrible performance on Monday night. Amidst a glitch-strewn feed which was often buffering and breaking, perhaps a reflection of the Hammers’ broken predicament overall, Nuno delivered his verdict on the performance, suggesting frequently that the players need to improve and take responsibility themselves.

“The players must win their own duels, take responsibility. Then as a team we can improve”.

In reference to questions over player anxiety in front of a home audience, Nuno admitted ” I felt it on the players..they were rushing their decisions. I see them working every day and we have quality and talent:  In training the players can make 5 yard passes and yet [ on Monday night] those passes were not happening…How long have we had these problems at home? We must solve it”.

Can’t wait until the January window:

When asked if the answer lay in getting the cheque book out and buying big in the winter transfer window, Nuno declared that the time to fix the squad was now, not in January.

” The reality...