Nuno Espirito Santo demanded greater defensive control from West Ham United before facing Wrexham.
His players responded with six goals and a clean sheet.
West Ham’s 6-0 victory at London Stadium made it four consecutive Championship wins and sent the Hammers back to the top of the table.
Nuno described it as a “very good performance” in his official post-match reaction. (whufc.com)
The scoreline was spectacular.
The clean sheet may have been just as significant.
Nuno’s West Ham demand answered
Nuno had already made clear what he wanted to see after the 3-2 victory at Bolton.
The West Ham boss warned that his side could not expect to simply outscore opponents every week.
He said: “It’s not always going to be possible to score three goals in games.”
Read West Ham covered Nuno’s defensive warning before the Wrexham game after he called for his side to return to the standards shown in the 3-0 win against Derby County.
West Ham delivered exactly that.
Jarrod Bowen and Joel Piroe gave the Hammers a two-goal advantage before half-time.
Konstantinos Mavropanos added the third after the restart before Taty Castellanos, Mohamadou Kante and Manor Solomon completed the rout.
But unlike at Bolton, there was no defensive collapse to complicate matters.
West Ham beginning to find balance
That is the most encouraging part of West Ham’s recent progress.
Nuno’s side have already shown they possess enough attacking quality to overwhelm Championship opponents.
What has been less consistent is their ability to control games once ahead.
The Derby victory provided one example.
Bolton exposed the remaining weaknesses.
Wrexham was the strongest response yet.
Nuno had also warned before the game that the Championship has become increasingly demanding, describing the division as both better in quality and more difficult than during his successful spell with Wolves.
Read West Ham covered Nuno’s Championship admission before the Wrexham clash.
Four consecutive wins do not change the scale of that challenge.
They do suggest West Ham are beginning to understand how Nuno wants them to play.
Nuno now faces Fulham selection decision
Attention quickly turns to Tuesday’s Carabao Cup third-round meeting with Fulham.
Nuno must decide how much to rotate before the Championship trip to Millwall four days later.
Fulham arrive after frustrating Liverpool in a goalless draw at Anfield, with Read West Ham already examining the warning their defensive performance sent West Ham.
Supporters can find the broadcast details in our West Ham vs Fulham TV channel and live-stream guide.
The full schedule is also available through our West Ham fixtures and results hub.
For now, though, Nuno can take satisfaction from one simple fact.
He asked West Ham to improve defensively.
They responded with their biggest win and one of their most complete performances of the season.
