'Up to us': Nuno Espirito Santo calls on West Ham squad to repair relationship with fans | OneFootball

Thousands of supporters skipped the Hammers’ defeat by Brentford in protest of the club’s board

Nuno Espirito Santo called on West Ham’s players to do their part to help repair the club’s strained relationship with its fans.

Despite a bright opening spell, the atmosphere inside the stadium turned sour after Brentford broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute through Igor Thiago, and Nuno believes the mood swing impacted his players.

“So, there must be a reason, and it's up to us to tell the players, look, play your game. Try to ignore and focus what is inside of the pitch.”

Asked about how he could solve the mutinous atmosphere inside the London Stadium, Nuno said it was up to his players to make supporters enjoy watching West Ham again.

“It's there to see, we cannot hide ourselves from what's happening. It's up to us, I insist it's up to us, it’s up to us to connect the fans again, it's up to us to make sure that the fans go to the stadium and see something that they enjoy,” Nuno continued.

West Ham were well beaten on Monday night

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Nuno is adamant that the club’s dismal home form - the Hammers have lost five successive home games for the first time since 1931 - is not the sole reason for their struggles, adding his players had to compete better in their individual duels if they were to end a run of five defeats from their first seven league games.

“This improvement must come, first of all, from individual players, the responsibility players, that have to win their own game, their own duels, and then, for sure, as a team we're going to improve.”

“We are not getting points enough. That's the main issue, we must get points enough, and to get points, we must improve our game.

“We must play better; we must compete better. Away, at home, no matter where. In the training sessions, every day is important so we can improve.”