Nuno Espirito Santo kept his feet firmly on the ground during his interview with Sky Sports on Friday, reminding everyone that "we still have a big mission to accomplish, a hard job to do." His calm demeanor came after West Ham's 4-0 victory over Wolves, a win that lifted the Hammers out of the relegation zone and allowed them to stay clear of the bottom three ahead of their Monday Night Football clash with Crystal Palace. Even though Tottenham's draw with Brighton on Saturday secured West Ham's safety for the moment, Nuno urged his players to ignore the league table and concentrate on the tasks that lie ahead, game by game.
That advice is sensible for a squad that has undergone a dramatic transformation in a short period. When West Ham lost to Nottingham Forest on January 6, they were seven points adrift of safety and thirteen points behind Tottenham. Since then, five wins in eleven Premier League fixtures have propelled them above the crucial safety line. The team feels almost like a new entity, a claim that is reinforced by the significant turnover of personnel during the winter transfer window.
During that window, a number of players departed – Lucas Paquetá, James Ward-Prowse, Guido Rodríguez, Andriy Irving, George Earley, Luis Guilherme and Niclas Füllkrug all left the club. In their place, West Ham welcomed Axel Disasi, Taty Castellanos, Pablo Felipe, Adama Traoré and Keiber Lamadrid. "We reduced the numbers in terms of players and rebalanced our squad in terms of positions," Nuno explained. "That is the approach we wanted for the second half of the season – a different idea from what we had before." The statistical shift is evident.
From the start of the campaign until mid‑January, West Ham were 17th for goals per game, 19th for big chances created and 16th for possession. Since the turnaround, they have surrendered possession, now sitting at the bottom of the league for that metric, yet they have become far more potent in attack, ranking sixth for both goals per game and big chances created. The defensive side has also tightened; the Hammers have kept four clean sheets in their last eight Premier League matches, a run that coincides with the return of goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and the influence of loan defender Disasi.
Set‑piece defending, once a glaring weakness, has improved dramatically. In the previous 21 matches the club had conceded 12 goals from dead‑ball situations; in the last eleven games they have allowed only three, all of which came in a single encounter with Liverpool. However, perhaps the most important factor in West Ham's resurgence is the camaraderie that has developed within the squad.
"If I can point to one particular aspect, I think everybody realised that we have to come together in the same objective," Nuno said. "Football is a collective sport.
Everybody is needed – the squad, the coaching staff, the club staff, the fans. We are getting closer together, helping each other to achieve what we want." That sense of unity was on display in the recent FA Cup quarter‑final against Leeds United.
West Ham found themselves 2-0 down as stoppage time approached in the second half, yet they managed to pull two goals level, forcing extra time and eventually a penalty shoot‑out. Although they ultimately fell short, the comeback demonstrated the team's refusal to surrender. "To take it to extra‑time and then to penalties showed that we don't give up, that we cannot give up," Nuno remarked. "We showed it in front of our fans.
We cannot allow ourselves to ever give up. Never give up." Captain Jarrod Bowen epitomised that fighting spirit. He struck the woodwork twice in the cup tie and saw his spot‑kick saved in the shoot‑out, but he responded by delivering two assists in the rout of Wolves a few days later. "He's been amazing.
Jarrod has been huge for us," Nuno praised. "He leads by example.
The teammates trust him. He's the club captain – that means a lot. He embraces the responsibility and never stops." Bowen will once again marshal a rejuvenated West Ham side at Selhurst Park on Monday night, a team that appears ready to confront the difficulty of their circumstances and to seize the opportunity they have carved out together. "Every game is pressure, always pressure," Nuno warned.
"It is increased because of the situation we are in and we are reaching this decisive moment of the season, so we expect the best from our players, knowing that everything will be decided now." The narrative of West Ham's season is one of rebirth: a squad trimmed, restructured and re‑energised, a manager who refuses to be swayed by league positions, and a group of players who have forged a collective resolve. Whether they can maintain this momentum and finish the campaign safely remains to be seen, but the signs are encouraging. The Hammers have shown they can adapt, they can fight, and most importantly, they can do it together.