Let me make one thing crystal clear — it is not my intention to be overly critical or to undermine a new West Ham manager.

On the contrary, I want Nuno Espírito Santo to succeed at West Ham. Because let’s face it — we need him to.

But I can’t help but wonder what on earth the new Hammers boss thought he was doing by persevering with a tactic and team selection that failed so catastrophically against Brentford.

Until Thursday, when I heard his interview, I had assumed Nuno would view the Brentford defeat as an experiment gone wrong.

Therefore, to see him repeat the same mistakes by playing multiple players out of position against Leeds United was unbelievable. Unsurprisingly, it only took three minutes for the tactics to unravel, as poor Ollie Scarles looked completely lost at right-back — and West Ham found themselves 1–0 down at Elland Road.

Ollie Scarles was thrown to the wolves by Nuno’s tactics

Square pegs in square holes

What was he thinking? Where is the pragmatic manager I thought West Ham were getting — the steady Eddie, sensible figure who’d put square pegs in square holes, midfielders who can...