Jamie Carragher believes a “shocked” West Ham side are one of the slowest teams in the Premier League and at risk of relegation, while former Bournemouth and Wolves manager Gary O’Neill says they “look like they have lost their way”.
Brentford won 2-0, deepening fears of relegation after West Ham lost their fifth straight home game. Monday Night Football.
Nuno Espirito Santo has been winless in his first three games as his new side sit second from bottom in the Premier League. Sky Sports’ Carragher believes the club’s poor performance is partly down to a “retreat” approach to transfers.
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WATCH FREE: Highlights of the match between West Ham and Brentford in the Premier League.
“It’s shocking, it’s been shocking for a while,” Carragher said of West Ham’s performance against Brentford. “It feels like a long time since we won a European trophy under David Moyes.
“Sometimes we ask questions when supporters are against the club or against the ownership. Most of the time it’s almost a last resort and it’s rare for supporters of their own football club to get it wrong. They know exactly what’s going on at this football club and it’s not up to the manager.
“The current ownership of West Ham is completely different to what we are seeing from the clubs who have beaten them so well on their own patch. It is almost like a regression in the way they are making transfers. It just does not feel like a modern way of doing things and I think that is where the frustration comes from.
“They look at clubs other than West Ham’s patch and that is no disrespect to Brentford or Brighton, who we see as forward-thinking and modern clubs.
“West Ham is a much bigger club than both of those clubs, but the way they operate now means they can actually compete with them on the pitch.”
West Ham’s home form this season
Carragher highlighted West Ham’s lack of pace and energy as a major concern.
“I can’t think of a less athletic team I’ve seen in the Premier League for a very long time,” he said. “They are one of the slowest Premier League football teams I have ever seen.
“The first goal felt like a throwback to 40 or 50 years ago. It felt like everyone had all the time and space in the world. From a West Ham perspective, it was terrible.
“At the start of the season I was afraid of the promoted teams because I felt they would be more competitive. West Ham have that squad, and whoever the manager is, there will always be problems because I don’t think they will be able to cope physically.”
“It wasn’t a great game of football by Brentford. They absolutely bullied them. West Ham had to play third-and-back. They’re losing at home and you’re bringing in defenders because you can’t cope with Brentford. You don’t play Man City, you don’t play Arsenal, you don’t play Brentford and they can’t cope. “There was none.”
‘Nuno has a lot to do’
O’Neill is worried about whether West Ham, who are second from bottom with four points, can remain in the Premier League. They are currently three points adrift of 17th placed Burnley and only winless Wolves are below the Hammers.
“I was confident West Ham would be OK all season, but watching that I’m really worried about them now,” he said.
“They look lost from a tactical point of view. Of course Nuno was only there for five minutes and needs time, but they look lost and confident. They don’t look together.”
“I think Brentford will finish in the bottom six or seven of the league, they absolutely tore West Ham on their home ground this evening.”
“That will require a huge change in performance. Nuno has done a huge job to get the team competitive to go to Elland Road in four days because it is an unforgiving stadium. They will need a huge improvement on that to have any chance.”
Nuno: There’s trouble at home
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Nuno Espirito Santo says his team can feel their fans’ concerns and must bring them together.
Nuno stressed that the atmosphere at the London Stadium was not conducive to his team.
“I think we’re all worried. You can feel it in our fans. You can tell they’re worried. And then that worry turns into silence. That silence turns into anxiety. And we have a problem.
“It’s understandable. Since I arrived, we’ve clearly recognized that it’s up to us to change this. Our fans need to see what they like, what they like, so they can support us and give us energy, just like we feel at the beginning of the game.
“Our fans were behind the team because they were playing well, then the momentum shifted and that’s what we had.
“We try to ignore that. We try to make them (players) feel comfortable so they can express themselves well, but we can’t hide ourselves. There’s something you can see.
“You can see what we’re going through with the passes and not the clicks, it has to do with a lot of aspects and mentally that’s one of the aspects we need to change.”
Analysis: West Ham are in the relegation zone
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones at the London Stadium:
The 5-1 loss to Chelsea was bad. But this was worse.
West Ham were hoping a managerial change would alleviate a worrying start to the season. But this is a deeper issue than who leads them from the dugout.
Years of lazy and poor recruitment decisions are now taking a toll on this football club. Fans are tired of it all. The squad we are looking at is not built for the rigors of Premier League football.
Once again this West Ham team was bullied in duels and lacked the ability to compete in key areas of the field. At one stage, Tomas Soucek was playing alone in central midfield after a tactical overhaul, with poor results.
With newly promoted teams swinging hard and maintaining points consistency, bad Premier League teams will be punished this season with the threat of relegation. That is the situation West Ham are facing. They are very much in scraps.
