Thiago deepens gloom at West Ham as Brentford triumph amid fan

Published: 21 October 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Brentford’s first away win of the season would come in the Premier League’s unhappiest and least intimidating ground. The many West Ham fans who displayed their displeasure with the board by boycotting this fixture had the right idea. They could celebrate their decision not to subject themselves to an unspeakably abysmal performance from Nuno Espírito Santo’s muddled team. West Ham, who have started a league campaign with four successive defeats at home for the first time in their history, were shambolic. They created nothing, made bizarre substitutions, defended terribly and had accepted their fate long before Mathias Jensen, with Brentford’s 22nd shot of a horribly one-sided contest, made it 2-0 deep into added time.

The mood was one of muted resignation. Apathy has gripped West Ham. Can Nuno, who is yet to win since replacing Graham Potter last month, rouse them? The early evidence is unconvincing. This was as bad as anything under Potter. West Ham were painfully passive from start to finish, remain overly reliant on Jarrod Bowen and will undoubtedly go down unless there is a major improvement in their defending.

Brentford, who are making encouraging strides under Keith Andrews, should have had a hatful. Igor Thiago opened the scoring and bullied Jean-Clair Todibo and Max Kilman throughout the first half. Mikkel Damsgaard, Yehor Yarmolyuk and Jordan Henderson controlled the midfield with poise and precision. Andrews, recalling previous away collapses, stressed the importance of composure. “You want that second goal to make life comfortable,” he said. “We’ve been there on the road before. But I did feel pretty comfortable.”

By the end, West Ham were reduced to Lucas Paquetá hoofing aimless balls in the vague direction of Brentford’s area. Their recruitment strategy looked as chaotic as their play. They finished with Callum Marshall, a raw 20-year-old who spent last season on loan at Huddersfield, filling in up front. Callum Wilson, signed on a free transfer last summer, watched from the bench for the third successive game. Nuno insisted there was no issue with the forward, but his post-match comments revealed a deeper unease.

“We are all concerned,” he admitted. “You can feel it from our fans. You can see they are concerned. Then concern becomes silence. Silence becomes anxiety. We have a problem.” Nuno also conceded that his side lacks identity and mental strength. “We try to ignore the atmosphere,” he said. “We try to make them comfortable, but we cannot hide ourselves. Mentally, it’s one of the aspects that we have to solve.”

The sight of row after row of empty seats was humiliating for the club’s owners. It was eerily quiet during the opening stages, though perhaps the fans were too busy deciphering Nuno’s starting lineup to make any noise. His decision to deploy Ollie Scarles and Kyle Walker-Peters as overlapping full-backs was puzzling. Using Paquetá as a false nine in place of the injured Niclas Füllkrug also backfired. Andy Irving, making his home debut more than two years after joining, struggled to impose himself in midfield.

“The idea was to stay compact and work together,” Nuno explained, but Brentford picked holes at will. Every set piece brought danger. Dango Ouattara and Thiago were both wasteful before the breakthrough finally came in the 43rd minute. Kilman, a £40m misfit, failed to deal with a lofted pass from Yarmolyuk. Kevin Schade pounced and squared for Thiago, whose powerful shot squirmed under Alphonse Areola.

Brentford were denied a second just before the break when Thiago was marginally offside. West Ham’s switch to a back three in the second half did little to stem the tide. Passes were sloppy, shape disorganised, and Brentford’s confidence only grew. Schade rattled the bar before substitute Keane Lewis-Potter broke free on the right to set up Jensen for a clinical second. West Ham, already deflated, finished with ten men after Konstantinos Mavropanos limped off, leaving Nuno helpless on the touchline.

Boos greeted his substitution of Tomas Soucek for defensive midfielder Guido Rodríguez with 20 minutes remaining—a move that epitomised the manager’s caution and confusion. The fans’ frustration was palpable, their silence damning. For Nuno, east London is fast becoming a nightmare, and there may be no easy escape.