West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo is already feeling the heat and his first home game as manager was an absolute nightmare.
West Ham set new club record after disastrous home defeat to Brentford
Brentford took West Ham to the clean room during a match boycotted by the majority of Hammers officials as protests against David Sullivan, Cullen Brady and the board continued.
Keith Andrews’ side were untroubled by a lackluster, uninspired home side who appeared to lack confidence, rhythm and clear identity, apart from a Jarrod Bowen shot that almost went in at the far post.
In fact, the 2-0 defeat was a welcome one for West Ham, as Brentford also hit the crossbar twice, forcing great saves from Alphonse Areola, and another goal was canceled out by VAR just before half-time.
Nuno’s lineup was also pretty questionable at best.
West Ham’s Premier League results so far |
|---|
Sunderland 3-0 West Ham |
West Ham 1-5 Chelsea |
Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham |
West Ham 0-3 Tottenham |
West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace |
Everton 1-1 West Ham |
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham |
West Ham 0-2 Brentford |
The Portuguese tried Lucas Paqueta as a centre-forward while Niklas Furkruk was out with a thigh injury, but could not convince him, leaving him almost isolated and giving the ball away carelessly.
Ollie Scurls and Kyle Walker-Peters played the rare full-back role on the opposite flank, with Freddie Potts and summer signing Sung’untu Magassa sacrificed to create a leggy midfield partnership of Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving.
Brentford had an unforgettable night against the rampaging Bees, with the centre-back combination of Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo, who was given his first start under Nuno, firing a total of 17 shots, exposing West Ham’s fragility time and time again.
The result means West Ham have lost all four home league games for the first time in the club’s long history, and it’s clear that Nuno will find himself in a relegation battle if things don’t change soon.
Last season, the Irons avoided falling into the Championship because all three promoted teams were too poor, and this will be the case in 2023/2024, but West Ham may not have that luxury this time around.
The 51-year-old needs inspiration from somewhere and one West Ham player is said to be working hard to prove his worth to Nuno at Rush Green.
Igor Julio impresses Nuno in West Ham training session
That man is Igor Julio, who joined East Londoners on a season-long loan from Brighton this summer.
The Brazilian has made 37 appearances in the Premier League since joining Brighton from Fiorentina in 2023, but was limited to just one Carabao Cup appearance this season, signing for West Ham in hopes of playing more games.
Nuno has yet to start for Julio in his first three games as West Ham manager, playing just one minute off the bench against Everton and not being in the match-day squad against Brentford.
With Kilman and Todibo really struggling on Monday night, the 27-year-old may sense an opportunity to get into the competition, given how fragile West Ham’s defense is now.
As reported by The West Ham Way, Julio is thought to be doing well in training with West Ham, potentially opening the door for Nuno to snatch the likes of Todibo, Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos as he experiments to find his definitive best side.
To be honest, West Ham have conceded more goals than any other team in the Premier League at the moment and the situation at the back could hardly get any worse.
Julio appears to be working hard to break into the starting eleven, but Friday’s tricky test away to Leeds will be a baptism of fire for the new signing as he looks to get his Premier League career back on track.
Former Seagulls manager Iñigo Calderon has gone on record as calling Julio an “animal” defender, and that’s exactly what Nuno is looking for.
