A dark cloud hangs over West Ham United, and the latest defeat against Brentford only deepens the despair. Was it truly a surprise that Brentford secured their first away victory of the season at what's rapidly becoming the Premier League's least inspiring venue? Probably not.
The West Ham supporters who chose to boycott the game in protest against the club's management arguably made the right call. They were spared witnessing what can only be described as an utterly dreadful performance from Nuno Espírito Santo's confused and disjointed team. This marked West Ham's fourth consecutive home defeat at the start of a league campaign – a truly historic low. Their performance was nothing short of shambolic: devoid of creativity, plagued by baffling substitutions, defensively porous, and seemingly resigned to defeat long before Mathias Jensen sealed Brentford's 2-0 victory with their 22nd shot of the match in added time.
The atmosphere at the stadium was one of quiet resignation, almost acceptance. Apathy has firmly taken root at West Ham. The crucial question now is: can Nuno, who is still searching for his first win since replacing Graham Potter last month, reignite the team's spirit and turn things around? The evidence so far is far from encouraging. This performance was arguably as bad, if not worse, than anything seen under Potter. West Ham were frustratingly passive from the opening whistle to the final one, relying far too heavily on Jarrod Bowen for any semblance of attacking threat. Make no mistake: without significant and immediate improvements in their defensive capabilities, relegation looms large.
Brentford, on the other hand, continue to make impressive progress under the guidance of Keith Andrews. They could have, and perhaps should have, scored several more goals. Igor Thiago, who opened the scoring, physically dominated West Ham's center-back pairing of Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman throughout the first half. The Brentford midfield, orchestrated by Mikkel Damsgaard, Yehor Yarmolyuk, and Jordan Henderson, completely controlled the game. Andrews, however, couldn't shake the memory of previous matches where his team had squandered leads against Fulham and Sunderland. "You always want that second goal to give you a comfortable cushion," he admitted. "We've been in similar situations on the road before. But I did feel pretty comfortable throughout."
And this is the part most people miss: Brentford's comfort came not just from their own strength, but from West Ham's utter lack of it.
As the game wore on, West Ham's attacking strategy degenerated into Lucas Paquetá aimlessly hoofing long balls towards the Brentford penalty area. Their recent spending spree seems to have yielded little return on investment. The team ended the match with Callum Marshall, a relatively inexperienced 20-year-old who spent the previous season on loan at Huddersfield, leading the line. Meanwhile, Callum Wilson, a free transfer signing last summer, remained an unused substitute for the third consecutive game. Nuno downplayed any issues with Wilson, but was more vocal about his concerns regarding his team's inability to win individual battles on the pitch.
"We are all concerned," Nuno acknowledged. "You can feel the concern from our fans. You can see it. Then concern turns into silence. And silence becomes anxiety. We have a problem."
Nuno, who openly admitted that West Ham are a long way from establishing a clear identity, even pondered whether the negative atmosphere at the London Stadium is affecting his players' performance. "We try to ignore it," he said. "We try to make them feel comfortable, but we can't hide from the reality. Mentally, it's one of the key aspects we need to address and solve."
The sight of vast swathes of empty seats was undoubtedly humiliating for West Ham's ownership. The stadium was eerily quiet during the opening stages of the match. Although, perhaps the few fans who attended were too preoccupied trying to decipher Nuno's perplexing starting lineup to make much noise. The decision to deploy Ollie Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters as underlapping full-backs appeared to be a misjudgment. Similarly, playing Paquetá as a false 9 in place of the injured Niclas Füllkrug failed to produce the desired results. The inclusion of Andy Irving in midfield for a rare start, a mere 780 days after joining the club, also raised eyebrows.
"The idea was to work together, to be compact," Nuno explained. But here's where it gets controversial... The reality was that Brentford were able to create scoring opportunities almost at will. Every set-piece delivery caused West Ham's defense significant problems. Dango Ouattara, who was a lively presence on the right wing, and Thiago both squandered clear-cut chances before Brentford finally broke the deadlock.
The opening goal arrived in the 43rd minute. Kilman, a £40 million acquisition who has so far failed to live up to his price tag, failed to adequately deal with a lofted pass from Yarmolyuk. Kevin Schade pounced on the loose ball and teed up Thiago, whose shot, although not particularly powerful, had just enough to squeeze past Alphonse Areola.
Brentford were then denied a second goal just before half-time when Thiago was ruled offside after beating Areola once again. West Ham made tactical adjustments for the second half, with Nuno switching to a back three, but the overall quality of their performance remained woefully low. Passes were consistently overhit, and the gaps in their defensive line continued to widen. Schade somehow managed to head the ball against the crossbar from close range when it appeared easier to score. Eventually, two Brentford substitutes combined to devastating effect, with Keane Lewis-Potter breaking down the right and providing the assist for Jensen to score emphatically.
Not once during the entire match did West Ham look remotely capable of mounting a comeback. Their misery was compounded when Konstantinos Mavropanos, one of three defenders introduced at half-time, was forced off with a muscle injury, leaving West Ham to finish the game with 10 men after Nuno had already used all of his substitutions. The substitution of Tomas Soucek, a combative midfielder, with Guido Rodríguez, a defensive midfielder, with 20 minutes remaining was greeted with audible boos from the remaining fans. Welcome to east London, Nuno. And it's probably too late to change your mind now.
What do you think? Can Nuno turn things around at West Ham, or is relegation inevitable? And was the fans' boycott justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
