Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed it was “tough” to tell Kyle Walker-Peters he was being substituted at half-time for the second successive match, as West Ham drew 1-1 at home to QPR.
Walker-Peters has been a regular starter under Nuno since West Ham’s relegation to the Championship, but the 29-year-old has now been taken off at the interval in consecutive games against Millwall and QPR.
Slow starts force changes
West Ham trailed 2-0 away to Millwall and 1-0 at home to QPR at half-time, prompting Nuno to make drastic alterations, with Walker-Peters the player sacrificed on both occasions.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Lincoln City, Nuno said: “It was tough. I spoke to Kyle, and it's not easy to take out the same player in different games. The intention was to change the shape. Kyle is a top professional, and he understood.”
Alvarez remains in plans
The decisions have raised questions about Walker-Peters’ future, but Nuno insists there are no issues. West Ham underwent major squad changes after relegation, with Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug among those to leave.
Edson Alvarez, however, failed to secure a move despite interest from several European clubs and has struggled for minutes this season. West Ham paid a club-record fee to sign midfielder Arne Engels from Celtic, and Alvarez has yet to feature in a league game, with his only appearance coming against Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup first round.
“All the players are working. It's up to us to make decisions. Not all the players have played yet, but the chances will come,” Nuno added. “All of the players in the building are part of our plans.”
