Nuno Espirito Santo tore into his "poor" West Ham team as relegation fears grow after a damaging defeat to Brentford on Monday. The humiliating 2–0 loss at the London Stadium confirmed the Hammers' worst start to a campaign on home soil in the club’s history. After the game, a disappointed Nuno admitted that West Ham "have a problem" and said the performance was just "not good enough".
Hammers collapse as fans boycott
With supporters staging a planned boycott in protest against the board, vast swathes of empty seats painted a bleak picture of the atmosphere at the London Stadium. Those who did attend witnessed a team devoid of spirit, energy, and ideas. The club now finds itself in genuine crisis just eight games into the season. Brentford, by contrast, were electric. Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen struck to secure the visitors’ first away win of the season, though in truth, the margin could have been far greater if they were a bit more clinical.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportNuno on the brink at West Ham
For Nuno, it was a brutal reality check in his first home match since replacing Graham Potter, who was sacked last month and has since been appointed as the new Sweden national team boss. The Portuguese coach, usually calm and measured, cut a dejected figure on the touchline as his team were completely outclassed. And his post-match verdict was as cold as it was honest.
"Not good enough. Poor," he said. "Fairly Brentford won the game, they were the better team. I think we are all concerned. You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. We have a problem.
"It's understandable. It's up to us to change. The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy. I understand it, I understand it totally, and I respect it. It's up to us, it's up to us to change it."
It wasn’t just the result, but it was the manner of the defeat that stung most. Brentford peppered the West Ham goal with 22 attempts, compared to just seven from the hosts. The first goal came via a long hopeful ball floated over the top, which should have been routine for Maximilian Kilman. Instead, his clumsy clearance fell straight to Kevin Schade, who darted in behind and squared for Thiago. The Brazilian’s shot slipped through Alphonse Areola’s hands and rolled agonisingly into the corner. And when Keane Lewis-Potter teed up Mathias Jensen in stoppage time to smash home the killer second, the home fans who remained finally had seen enough. A chorus of boos echoed across the ground as the players trudged off, their heads bowed.
In contrast, Brentford boss Keith Andrews was all smiles after overseeing what he called his team’s “most complete performance of the season”.
"Very pleased," said Andrews. "We approached the game really well. I had a good feeling the last few days, the vibe, the energy around the place. I thought we produced a really good performance. Ultimately, you want that second goal to be more comfortable but I felt we controlled it in the main. It was the most complete performance of the season, for sure."
His side climbed to 13th place, easing their own early-season worries while inflicting maximum pain on a West Ham side stuck in 19th, with just four points from eight matches.
Carragher slams “shocking” West Ham
Liverpool legend and pundit Jamie Carragher didn’t hold back in his post-match analysis, branding West Ham’s performance “shocking” and pointing the finger firmly at the club’s hierarchy.
"Shocking and it's been shocking for a while," said Carragher. "It feels an awful long time ago since they won that European trophy under David Moyes. Sometimes we question supporters when they go against the club or they go against an ownership. A lot of the time, it's almost a last resort and very rarely do supporters of their own football clubs get it wrong, they know exactly what is going on at this football club and it's not down to managers.
"The ownership at West Ham now is completely different to what we're seeing at the club that has just absolutely battered them on their own patch. It's almost like a throwback in terms of how they go about transfers. It just doesn't feel a modern way of doing things and I think that's where that frustration comes from. They look at other clubs who are not a patch on West Ham and that's not being disrespectful to Brentford and maybe a Brighton who we look at as forward-thinking, modern clubs. West Ham are far bigger club than those two clubs but the way they are run right now means that they can actually compete with them on the pitch."
Getty Images SportUp next: Relegation six-pointer vs Leeds
Nuno now faces an uphill battle to turn things around at a club sliding dangerously toward crisis, with a potential relegation six-pointer up next. He will look to turn West Ham's fortunes around on October 25 against newly promoted Leeds United, who are down in 16th with just one win in their last five matches.
