Empty stands, long faces—and the new coach recognizes fear: a miserable picture. Kevin Schade, on the other hand, is having fun.
What usually happens when you’re leading 1-0 but then miss chance after chance? Every soccer fan knows that this usually comes back to haunt you. Unless you’re playing West Ham United. “To be honest, I felt pretty comfortable,” said coach Keith Andrews when asked about this after his Brentford FC’s victory at the Hammers on Monday evening. It was only in stoppage time that his team sealed the deal with a 2-0 final score.
West Ham, who had to do without the injured Niclas Füllkrug once again, looked completely helpless and ended the game with an xGoals value of 0.33, which was almost flattering. From the start, Brentford was the only team that looked dangerous. Shortly before halftime, the impressive Kevin Schade set up Igor Thiago for his fifth goal of the season with his first assist of the season, giving Brentford a long-overdue lead (43′). After the break, Schade himself failed to convert from close range, hitting the underside of the crossbar (62′), which Igor Thiago had also hit earlier (30′).
Nuno Espirito Santo, who had only taken over from Graham Potter – now the new Swedish national coach – at the end of September, tried to counter this with a triple substitution and a change of system at half-time. It had no effect whatsoever. Instead, the Hammers even ended the game with ten men because substitute Konstantinos Mavropanos, formerly of Stuttgart, was unable to continue in the closing stages due to injury, with the team having already used up all their substitutions.
It was fitting for an evening where nothing went right. From the start, there was a grim atmosphere at London Stadium, with many fans staying away in protest against the club’s management or preferring to remain silent. While Brentford celebrated their first away win, West Ham started with four home defeats for the first time and remain second from bottom with only four points from eight games.
“Silence turns into fear”
“We are all concerned,” Espirito Santo admitted. “You can feel it among our fans. You can see that they are worried. Concern turns into silence, and silence turns into fear. And that fear is transferred to the players. We have a problem.” In truth, the Portuguese coach has more than one problem. Among other things, only three players in his team have scored this season, with Jarrod Bowen (three goals this season) being the only bright spot in attack. The defense lacks any kind of authority, with almost every set piece against Brentford creating danger.
The coach insists that the team now needs to “turn the momentum around” ahead of the clash with basement rivals Leeds United. “The fans need something to cheer about so they can support us and give us energy.” Perhaps it’s a good thing that West Ham are playing away on Friday.
