West Ham: ‘We need to bring fans together again’ – why Nuno has ‘huge job’

There were empty seats before West Ham took on Brentford in the London derby. And plenty during the game. And even more so as the match drew to a close.

The remaining fans chased their team away after a truly miserable 2-0 defeat that could easily have been 5-0.

These are toxic times at the London Stadium, with some fans staying away in protest at the club’s running.

New Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo – who is yet to win after three games – admits the players will have to work hard to get the fans going again.

This performance from the head coach couldn’t be sugar-coated with his post-match assessment.

“Not good enough. Bad,” said the Portuguese, who was in charge of his first home game for West Ham since replacing Graham Potter, after two away games.

“To be honest, Brentford won the game, they were the better team.

“I think we are all concerned. You can see that our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes fear, becomes silence. That fear passes on to the players. We have a problem.”

“It’s understandable. It’s up to us to change. The fans need to see something they like and they can support us and give us energy.”

“I understand it, I understand it completely, and I respect it. It’s up to us, it’s up to us to change it. We are the people who have to bring the fans back together.”

West Ham remain 19th, with just four points from their first eight games. They will also be in action in the next Premier League match, visiting Leeds on Friday.

Nuno told BBC Sport: “It’s a challenge for all of us. It’s up to us to change the momentum and get our fans back to support us. In four days we need a big improvement.”