A reflective Nuno Espirito Santo, as he looks back on how he has changed as a manager and a person since he was last in charge of a Championship club with Wolves eight years ago. "There are a lot of things that have changed, the league has got harder. But some things stay the same.
We still need hard work, honesty." It was the win against Wolves at the start of September that kickstarted West Ham's season. They had failed to win in their first three games in August, before a 4-2 victory over Nuno's old club at the London Stadium got things moving. From there, it was three more wins and a draw before the international break, which saw him collect the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award for September.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "It was an important win [against Wolves]," Nuno says. "It was important for me and important for the players to achieve it. It started against Wolves and it continued to the draw at Millwall." West Ham's last game saw them fight back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at The Den.
"It was a good reaction from all of us in the second half, a game that didn't start well, but we reacted well in the second half and we finished the game strong," Nuno adds. "It was a positive for all of us, but I still believe that we should have done things better and tried to achieve a different result. Let's try to move forward and focus on what's to come." Up next for West Ham is a clash at home with QPR on Friday night, live on Sky Sports, off the back of a three-week break.
For Nuno and his squad members not on international duty, it was a chance to relax. But there were also some nerves in hoping that his players away with their respective nations would come back fit and ready for action. "It was important for all of us," he says.
"It was a very tough schedule, so having these days to not only recover physically but also mentally, of course it was too much time, but normally it is. I feel healthy, which is important. "We are proud that our players represent their own countries, but always worried because we need them to come back okay.
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