West Ham star impressing Nuno in training with first start surely a matter of time
West Ham boss Nuno Espírito Santo is already feeling the heat, and his first home game as manager was quite simply the stuff of nightmares.
West Ham break club record after dismal loss at home to Brentford
During a match boycotted by large portions of the Hammers faifthful, amid ongoing protests against David Sullivan, Karren Brady and the board, Brentford took West Ham to the cleaners.
Keith Andrews’ side, bar an effort from Jarrod Bowen which nearly crept in at the far post, were never troubled by a lacklustre, uninspired home side who looked devoid of confidence, rhythm and a clear identity.
In truth, the 2-0 loss flattered West Ham, as Brentford also struck the crossbar twice, forced great saves from Alphonse Areola and had another goal chalked off by VAR just before half-time.
Nuno’s line-up was, at best, pretty questionable too.
West Ham’s results in the Premier League 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, in Niclas Fullkrug’s absence due to a thigh injury, experimented with Lucas Paqueta as the centre-forward — but he failed to convince, was largely isolated and gave the ball away carelessly.
Olly Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters took up unusual full-back roles on their opposite sides, with Freddie Potts and summer signing Soungountou Magassa sacrificed for a leggy midfield partnership of Tomas Soucek and Andy Irving.
Brentford exposed West Ham’s fragility time and time again, with the centre-back partnership of Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo – who was given his first start under Nuno – having a night to forget against a rampant Bees side who had 17 shots in total.
The result means that West Ham have now lost all four of their first home league games for the first time in the club’s long history, and if things don’t change soon, it is clear that Nuno has a relegation dogfight on his hands.
Last term, the Irons escaped a drop to the Championship owing to how poor all three promoted sides were, as was the case in 2023/2024 as well, 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 in an attempt to prove his worth to Nuno at Rush Green.
Igor Julio impressing Nuno in West Ham training
That man is summer signing Igor Julio, who joined the east Londoners on a season-long loan from Brighton.
The Brazilian, who’s made 37 Premier League appearances for Brighton since joining them from Fiorentina in 2023, was limited to just a single Carabao Cup appearance this term and signed for West Ham in pursuit of more game time.
Nuno is yet to start Julio in any of his first three matches as West Ham boss, having played just one minute off the bench against Everton, and he didn’t even feature in their matchday squad for Brentford.
Considering just how leaky West Ham’s defence looks right now, with Kilman and Todibo really struggling on Monday night, the 27-year-old could sense an opportunity to play his way into contention.
As relayed by The West Ham Way, Julio is believed to be impressing in West Ham training, and as Nuno experiments to try and find out his definitive best side, the door could be open for him to usurp the likes of Todibo, Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Let’s face it, matters could hardly be any worse at the back right now, with West Ham conceding the most goals of any side in the Premier League so far.
Julio appears to be hard at work to earn a place in the starting eleven, and a tricky test away to Leeds on Friday would act as a baptism of fire for the new arrival who’s looking to get his Premier League career back on track.
Former Seagulls coach Inigo Calderón is on record calling Julio an “animal” of a defender, which is exactly what Nuno is crying out for.
