The atmosphere at the London Stadium was once again bleak as West Ham United suffered yet another home defeat — a 2-0 loss to Keith Andrews’ Brentford — marking their fifth straight defeat in East London since May.
Listless and lacking fight, the Hammers looked a shadow of themselves, and their slide down the Premier League table continues. Now sitting second from bottom, just two points above Wolves, the pressure on the players and new head coach Nuno Espírito Santo is mounting fast.
The home supporters, visibly frustrated and disillusioned, made their feelings clear as Brentford comfortably controlled proceedings from start to finish. It was a night to forget for Nuno, whose first home game in charge could hardly have gone worse.
Speaking to whufc.com after the match, the Portuguese manager didn’t hide his disappointment:
“It was a difficult evening for us. Nobody’s going to sleep tonight, and rightly so. It was not good enough. We have to be strong in every moment, in every duel. Individually, we must improve — that’s how the team improves.”
Nuno admitted his side initially started well but quickly lost their grip once Brentford began to dominate from set-pieces:
“We began better. The first 15 or 20 minutes were good — we had control, good combinations, and looked organised. But once they started putting balls into our box from set-pieces, we couldn’t deal with them. The momentum changed, and from there, Brentford were the better team.”
In a surprising move, Nuno made six changes from the side that fell 2-0 to Arsenal before the international break. His decision to rotate heavily backfired, with the reshuffled lineup lacking cohesion and quality.
Explaining his thinking, Nuno emphasised the need for squad rotation, though he acknowledged it hadn’t worked as planned on this occasion:
“It’s important to give everyone a chance because we’ll need the whole squad over the season. Some players didn’t perform as well as we hoped tonight, but that’s part of the process. Everyone must be ready to step up.”
Looking ahead, West Ham face a crucial clash away at Leeds United on Friday night — a fixture that could shape their survival hopes. Nuno knows his team can’t afford to show the same weaknesses again.
“We have to be stronger at Leeds,” he said. “It’s a quick turnaround, and that’s a good thing. We need to respond fast and show a different version of ourselves — one with more fight, more belief, and more quality.”
West Ham’s season is teetering, and unless that “different version” appears soon, their battle to stay in the Premier League could become a desperate one.