Nuno Espirito Santo demands attitude shift as West Ham crash to Leeds defeat

The Hammers sit 19th in the Premier League table with four points from their opening nine matches, just one win overall and none in three under Nuno since he replaced Graham Potter last month. Their latest loss at Elland Road was their third consecutive league defeat, leaving them three points adrift of safety and having played one more game than 17th-placed Burnley, who have seven points from eight matches.

Early goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon sealed victory for Leeds, who ended a three-game winless run. West Ham's late strike from substitute Mateus Fernandes offered brief hope, but it was too little, too late for Nuno's side, who have now gone six league games without a win.

"There are many problems in our club, unfortunately," Nuno said after the match. "It is not up to us to hide behind them. Everyone has to be alive and do much more. These kinds of mistakes are unacceptable in the Premier League. There is quality here, there is time, but nothing will happen if we don't change."

Nuno admitted he made tactical errors during the game, particularly in attack. "We were not dealing well with our defensive situations, and I felt like we needed a striker to hold the ball. Maybe that's not the greatest from me," he said.

West Ham have conceded nine goals from corners this season, the most in the league, and Nuno has warned that time is running out to turn their campaign around. "We must change our attitude, we must prepare better, work harder, and commit ourselves more. Realising we have time can be a mistake if we don't change things quickly," he added.

Leeds coach Daniel Farke was delighted with his side's response after a tough week, praising their resilience in securing a hard-fought victory. "It's never easy to win a Premier League game on this level," Farke said. "We had a really difficult week, even more than I spoke about in my press conference, but the lads were aggressive and brave.

"I'm pleased with the way we started strong and saw it through."

He added that the win lifts Leeds to 13th on 11 points, emphasizing the importance of building momentum at home: "This result shows we're in a good place, but we need to keep converting our dominance into points."

West Ham's next fixture is a crucial home clash against Newcastle United on November 2, where Nuno will hope to finally claim his first victory as manager and spark the club's fightback from the bottom three.

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