Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged “we have a problem” following West Ham United‘s disappointing 2-0 loss at home to Brentford.
Fans of the Hammers chose the perfect evening to implement a boycott, as goals from Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen marked Brentford’s first away victory of the season, with the final scoreline not reflecting their dominance on the pitch.
Nuno’s debut home match in charge was overshadowed by an organized stay-away protest by supporters against the club’s board.
West Ham’s defense appeared to be absent during what was an alarmingly poor performance.
The few fans present sat in near silence as their team faltered yet again, marking the first time in the club’s history that they have lost their opening four home matches of a season, before booing them off the pitch.
On the same day that Graham Potter, who was dismissed by West Ham last month, was appointed as the new manager of Sweden, his successor was given a vivid understanding of the challenges ahead.
“Not good enough. Poor,” was the coach’s candid evaluation. “Brentford deserved the win, they were the superior team.
“We are all worried. Our own supporters are visibly concerned. This anxiety leads to silence. We have a problem.
“That is understandable. It is our responsibility to remedy this. The fans need to see something that excites them, so they can support us and revitalize the team’s energy.”
“I completely understand their frustration and respect it. It is on us to turn things around.”
Brentford registered 22 attempts on goal compared to West Ham’s seven, with the only shock being that they took 43 minutes to score.
The opening goal resulted from Maximilian Kilman’s mishap while attempting to clear a straightforward ball, allowing Kevin Schade to break in and feed the ball to Thiago.
West Ham’s goalkeeper Alphonse Areola managed to get a hand to the shot, but the ball deflected into the far corner.
Thiago, who was sidelined for much of the previous season due to injury, scored again before halftime, but the goal was disallowed by VAR for offside.
Both Thiago and Schade struck the woodwork before Brentford secured the victory in stoppage time, with Keane Lewis-Potter setting up Jensen to slot the ball into the roof of the net.
Brentford’s manager, Keith Andrews, expressed his satisfaction, stating, “We approached the game extremely well. I had a positive feeling over the last few days about the team’s energy. Our performance was commendable.
“Ideally, we’d like that second goal to make things more comfortable, but overall I felt we controlled the match for the most part. It was our most complete performance of the season, no question.”
The result leaves West Ham with just four points from eight matches, sitting second-bottom in the Premier League, while Brentford climbs to 13th place.
This report includes information from PA.