There have been four managerial changes in the Premier League this season: two by Nottingham Forest, one by West Ham United and one by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wolves are yet to play a game under Rob Edwards, but how have Nuno Espírito Santo and Sean Dyche fared at their new clubs so far?
In this article we look at the impact of Nuno and Dyche since they first arrived at West Ham and Forest respectively.
NUNO AT WESTHAM
| Games | Points | Goals | Goals against | Clean sheets | Minutes per xG (rank vs. other PL teams) | Minutes per xGC (rank vs. other PL teams) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before Nuno | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 97.8 (13th) | 62.1 (18th) |
| After Nuno | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 78.3 (13th) | 65.3 (14th) |
After a shaky start, West Ham have won each of their last two games, triumphing over Newcastle United and Burnley.
Previously, Nuno’s time as manager was marked by strange team selections, with full-backs often on the ‘wrong’ side and Lucas Paqueta (£5.9 million) used in advance.
However, the tactical tinkering has stopped recently, coinciding with an upturn in the Hammers’ form.
In his last two appearances, Nuno has named the same starting XI in a 4-3-3 formation, with Freddie Potts (£4.4 million), Matthew Fernandes (£5.5m) and Paqueta is impressing in central midfield.
The above image taken from the BBC
The corner-kicking Potts has quietly amassed the most defensive contributions (DefCon) of any West Ham player in these two games, with 24. He has also chipped in with five chances created.
Meanwhile, West Ham have been particularly concerned this season about their weakness in defending set pieces, with their nine goals conceded in such situations being by far the worst in the division before Nuno’s arrival.
Goaltending had also been a problem Alfonso Areola (£4.3 million) and Mads Hermansen (£4.4 million) are both underperforming.
But under Nuno we have seen progress in both areas, with just one goal conceded from set pieces, suggesting his time on the training pitch is starting to yield results.
Above: West Ham’s xG/xGC trend line from six games since the start of last season
Should West Ham continue to progress under Nuno, their ticker-topping run in Gameweek 18 could spark further interest.
WEST HAM UNDER NUNO:
- Most recordings: Bowen (14), Summerville (12), Paqueta
- Most chances created: Paqueta (8), Bowen, Fernandes (7)
- Most Defensive Contributions: Paqueta (60), Kilman (56), Summerville (47)
DYCHE AT FOREST
| Games | Points | Goals | Goals against | Clean sheets | Minutes per xG (rank vs. other PL teams) | Minutes per xGC (rank vs. other PL teams) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before Dyche | 8 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 84.8 (13th) | 53.3 (19th) |
| After Dyche | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 59.2 (6th) | 120.6 (5th) |
Forest are already on their third manager this season following the sackings of Nuno and Ange Postecoglou, with Dyche now aiming to restore the momentum at the City Ground.
And so far it’s going pretty well.
Dyche has made only minor changes to his starting XI so far, with nine players always present in the league, which has helped provide some much-needed stability.
Above: Nottingham Forest players sorted by minutes played under Sean Dyche
In his first three league games in charge, Dyche achieved his first win in the third match against Leeds United, following a draw against Manchester United.
They have yet to keep a clean sheet domestically, but in Europe they have secured shutouts against Porto and Sturm Graz.
One player who has taken a step further under Dyche is Morgan Gibbs White (£7.3m), who is back in his favorite number 10 role. He has subsequently scored against Porto, Man Utd and Leeds, and should have netted a fourth after also missing a penalty in Europe.
“I feel like I can finally breathe. It’s been a tough few months here with all the changes that have taken place and the poor performances.” [Getting an identity back] was the first thing the gaffer came in and said to us. He told us that last season we had a real identity and structure for the way we want to play, and he wants to bring that back. He wants to build on that. We have only had a few training sessions, but you can feel that the morale in the stadium and in the group feels a lot higher. It feels a lot more positive and it should stay that way. That’s an honor for the manager who came in.” – Morgan Gibbs-White
In the meantime, Elliot Anderson (£5.3m) was fantastic in the most recent win over Leeds United, scoring from the penalty spot with Gibbs-White, Chris Wood (£7.2 million) and Igor Jesus (£5.8 million) off the field. He is arguably the best all-round FPL midfielder in Forest’s ranks, thanks to his extensive routes to points (see below).
There are also real positive points to be drawn from the underlying figures.
Forest rank sixth for minutes per expected goal (xG) and fifth for minutes per expected goal (xGC) since Nuno’s arrival, albeit with a very small sample size.
Above: Nottingham Forest’s xG/xGC trend line from six games since the start of last season
It’s starting to look a little more like the team we became familiar with last season, but it suggests there’s plenty more to come from Dyche’s Forest. That could be from Gameweek 13 onwards when their fixtures start to improve.
FOREST UNDER DYCHE:
- Most recordings: Jesus (8), Gibbs-White (7), Hudson-Odoi, Ndoye, Williams (4)
- Most chances created: Anderson, Hudson-Odoi (5), Dominguez, Gibbs-White (3)
- Most Defensive Contributions: Anderson (40), Murillo (29), Ndoye (28)
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