West Ham United changed division and reshaped their squad this summer, but one of the weaknesses that helped send them into the Championship returned at the first opportunity against Burnley.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side appeared on course for the perfect start at Turf Moor after Maximilian Kilman and Manor Solomon established a 2-0 advantage.
Instead, Zian Flemming converted an 83rd-minute penalty before scoring again in stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Burnley.
For West Ham, the manner of the collapse should feel particularly familiar.
West Ham’s 20-point weakness follows them down
West Ham entered the final weekend of last season having dropped 20 Premier League points from winning positions.
Sky Sports identified the inability to close games out as one of the recurring weaknesses behind the club’s relegation, with the issue continuing after Nuno replaced Graham Potter.
A 2-2 draw at Bournemouth provided one particularly damaging example. West Ham led 2-0 before Nuno altered his side in an attempt to protect the advantage and watched it disappear.
ReadWestHam covered Nuno’s decision to remain after relegation, with the head coach describing the new campaign as a mission to put the club back in the Premier League.
Burnley provided his first league opportunity to demonstrate that lessons had been learned.
For 82 minutes, West Ham looked capable of doing exactly that.
Then the old pattern returned.
Nuno’s late Burnley decision deserves scrutiny
Burnley increased the pressure after Solomon made it 2-0, while West Ham became increasingly focused on protecting territory rather than threatening a third goal.
Ollie Scarles conceded the penalty from which Flemming halved the deficit. El Hadji Malick Diouf replaced Scarles four minutes later before another revealing change arrived in the 90th minute.
Nuno removed Solomon, arguably West Ham’s most dangerous attacking player, and introduced defender Joel Veltman.
Burnley equalised two minutes later.
One substitution cannot carry responsibility for the result. Burnley had already generated pressure and West Ham still had enough experience on the pitch to manage the closing stages.
However, the sequence will inevitably raise questions because of what happened throughout last season.
When West Ham went ahead, they too often stopped trying to increase their advantage and instead attempted to defend it.
Sunday offered an uncomfortable reminder.
Promotion push leaves little room for repeat collapses
West Ham’s Championship opener at Burnley was always going to provide an early promotion examination.
The draw itself should not create panic.
Turf Moor will be a difficult destination for plenty of Championship clubs this season, and taking a point away from another recently relegated side is hardly disastrous in isolation.
The concern comes from how West Ham dropped the other two.
A 46-match campaign will produce countless tight games. Promotion contenders regularly need to turn narrow advantages into routine victories even when performances become uncomfortable.
West Ham discovered last season how expensive the opposite habit can become.
Dropping 20 points from winning positions helped transform several promising afternoons into a relegation battle.
Nuno now has an entire season to prove that weakness has not followed West Ham into the Championship.
After only 90 minutes, however, the first warning has already arrived.
