UNLIKE Graham Potter and Julen Lopetegui before him, Nuno Espírito Santo is pretty forthright with answers to questions in the conferences that provide the overture to every Premier League fixture. When the games are only three days apart, especially after an awful Monday night performance, there isn’t much new to report and exchanges can get tetchy.

Espírito Santo’s growing frustrations are already evident just three games ( W0, L2, D1) into his West Ham career. Responding to a suggestion that veteran striker Callum Wilson was kept on the bench to save some cash owing to his ‘pay per play’ deal at London Stadium, Nuno was quick to rubbish the journalist’s claim.

Oh, please. Come on, eh?” he said when asked about Wilson’s situation. (chroniclelive.co.uk)

“Come on. I don’t even know that. You think I’m this kind of person? Do I think that? No. Maybe if you knew me better, maybe we don’t have to speak about that. It’s nothing more than a decision. There’s nothing there. This speculation doesn’t help. You think I think about all these aspects when I have to make a decision to help the team? I don’t know.

Every squad member...