Nuno Espírito Santo has admitted West Ham United still have plenty to improve despite finally securing their first Championship victory of the season with a 4-2 win over Wolves.
Divine Mukasa scored twice at London Stadium, with Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos also on target as the Hammers climbed onto five points from their opening four league matches.
But Nuno refused to get carried away after the breakthrough result.
Nuno says West Ham can still improve
The West Ham head coach repeatedly returned to one message after full-time.
“I think we can do better.”
Nuno acknowledged the importance of finally getting a Championship win on the board, but also pointed to mistakes that remained in the performance.
“We all know that it was much needed,” he said. “We have mistakes again but we’ve been much more effective in our attacking actions.”
That assessment feels fair.
Wolves controlled significant periods of the opening half-hour and twice struck the crossbar before Mukasa’s spectacular 25-yard opener changed the contest.
Raúl Jiménez hit the woodwork from a corner before Mateus Mané did the same shortly afterwards with Mads Hermansen beaten.
West Ham then punished those missed opportunities ruthlessly.
Mukasa scored in the 33rd minute, Bowen converted from the penalty spot and the teenager struck again after half-time before Mavropanos made it 4-1.
It was considerably more clinical than West Ham had been during their winless opening three Championship fixtures.
The result and every upcoming match can be tracked on our updated West Ham fixtures and results page.
Nuno delighted with Divine Mukasa impact
Mukasa inevitably received special praise from Nuno following his two-goal display.
“I’m delighted by the way he played.”
The manager also highlighted the wider contribution of the younger players around his squad, saying they have brought West Ham “energy and talent”.
That is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Mukasa has now forced his way into successive Championship starting XIs, while Airidas Golambeckis, Lewis Orford, Ezra Mayers and Josh Ajala have all featured prominently during the opening weeks of the season.
We have already looked at how Golambeckis strengthened his first-team case against Watford, while our wider West Ham Academy coverage tracks the youngsters attempting to make the jump into Nuno’s senior group.
Mukasa’s Wolves performance has moved him beyond simply being an exciting prospect.
He is now competing for a genuine starting role.
West Ham victory cannot hide defensive warning
The four goals are encouraging.
The defensive performance was less convincing.
Wolves head coach César Peixoto felt his side created enough opportunities to make the result closer and argued that West Ham’s superior finishing was ultimately decisive.
Nuno’s own comments effectively acknowledged the same issue.
West Ham cannot expect opponents to hit the crossbar twice during every difficult opening spell, particularly against teams who are likely to sit deeper than Wolves did.
Tuesday demonstrated the attacking potential inside the final squad.
The permanently updated West Ham squad page now shows Nuno has considerably more options following the completion of the summer transfer window, including Deadline Day arrival Morato.
But the next stage has to be developing enough control that West Ham do not require such clinical finishing every week.
Saturday’s home game against Derby County provides an immediate opportunity.
One win has eased the pressure.
Nuno’s reaction suggests he knows it has not solved every problem.
