West Ham 0-2 Brentford: Hammers set unwanted Premier League record as Nuno Espirito Santo admits “we have a problem”

Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted that his West Ham United team “have a problem” after suffering a dispiriting 2-0 home defeat to Brentford on Monday night.

The Portuguese was taking charge of his first home match as Hammers boss in front of a sparse London Stadium crowd, with several empty seats visible amid the latest phase of protests against the club’s chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady.

On what was a miserable night for West Ham both on and off the pitch, Brentford entered half time with a slender but thoroughly deserved lead thanks to Igor Thiago, who netted in the 43rd minute with the Bees’ 15th shot on goal.

West Ham were booed off at half time and Nuno vented his frustration at his side's poor performance by making three defensive substitutions at the internal, but their fortunes would not change in the second half.

Indeed, the Hammers never seriously threatened an equaliser and Brentford continued to dominate before wrapping up the three points in the fifth minute of stoppage time with a goal from Mathias Jensen.

West Ham slump to another home defeat and set unwanted record in the process

West Ham have now lost each of their opening four homes games at the start of a new season for the first time in their league history, becoming just the 10th Premier League team to suffer this unwanted feat.

In total, the Hammers have slipped to five successive home losses in the top flight for just the second time in their history and for the first time since 1931.

West Ham also produced an xG of just 0.33 - the fourth lowest of any home side in a PL match this season - and they registered just one shot on target in a torrid display that leaves them 19th in the table with just four points from nine games.

“Not good enough. Poor,” a disappointed Nuno told reporters after the match. “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.”

Nuno admits ‘concern’ but defends experimental team selection

Nuno, who has failed to win any of his opening three Premier League games as West Ham boss since replacing Graham Potter, has defended his team selection against Brentford.

While Andy Irving was handed his first Premier League start in midfield, Nuno bizarrely opted to play left-back Ollie Scarles at right-back and right-back Kyle Walker-Peters at left-back, while also starting without a recognised striker.

“I think it worked out. The idea for the game was that we had to work together, compact. It does not matter if [I start] Andy or other players," said Nuno.

“I think we have to train and achieve that all the players have their opportunities to show themselves so we can try to find better solutions.

“At half time, we changed it because things stop working and we [looked] for another situation to try and get more solid, more compact in behind [and] not allow too many chances so we can bounce back from the result.”

“Credit to Brentford, [they are] a tough team,” Nuno added. “We know Brentford's physicality very well, but we have to win individual duels. We have to win our own battles individually, so I'm concerned about that.”

West Ham will attempt to return to winning ways when they travel to Elland Road to face newly-promoted Leeds United in their next Premier League match on Friday night.