Nuno Espirito Santo has the chance to win over sceptical West Ham supporters in Leeds clash | OneFootball

Friday night’s match could prove pivotal as the Hammers’ new boss looks to keep his side above the relegation zone

Nuno Espirito Santo has made a slow start to his West Ham career, and it did not pick up in his home debut. The Hammers were comprehensively beaten by Brentford and thousands of supporters voted with their feet by boycotting the match in protest of the club’s board.

There was a noticeable number of empty seats on display at the London Stadium, with supporters’ group Hammers United claiming that more than 20,000 season ticket holders had taken part in the demonstration.

A freedom of information request has been submitted by Hammers United to Newham Council to ascertain an exact attendance figure, while West Ham, who will meet with the Fan Advisory Board on Thursday to discuss supporters’ concerns, have claimed a near sell-out attendance of 62,452.

By full-time, though, the message was clear. West Ham had been completely dominated by Brentford, and supporters had seen nothing to suggest there had been any signs of progress during Nuno’s first three weeks in charge.

“It was not good enough,” Nuno admitted in his pre-match press conference, as he looked ahead to West Ham’s trip to Leeds on Friday.

Nuno gave an understated assessment after a performance in which West Ham mustered just one shot on target, with Brentford recording three times as many touches inside the opposition penalty box.

“I was frustrated, because I think we started the game really well. I think during the first 20 minutes we played a good game, and then we were not able to sustain it. So that was the main disappointment, that we were not able to continue sustaining the performance.”

Nuno spoke about the atmosphere at the London Stadium causing an undercurrent of anxiety which his players were trying to ignore.

West Ham supporters voted with their feet against Brentford

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Handling the pressure that comes with trying to avoid West Ham a first relegation for 13 years, he says, will become easier once West Ham fans are able to enjoy watching their team play again.

“For the first 20 minutes, the fans were there because they were watching something that was enjoyable,” Nuno continued.

“The team was playing good, getting good combinations, going forward with pace and energy. Then the team didn't play so good. The fans reacted.

“That's one major issue (bringing the enjoyment back) that I was thinking when I look back.”

West Ham’s only points of the season, a 3-0 win against Nuno’s Nottingham Forest and a 1-1 draw with Everton, have come away from home. They have lost five successive top-flight games for just the second time in their history and the first time since 1931.

With further protests scheduled ahead of home games against Newcastle and Burnley, West Ham players could be forgiven for feeling that the weight of expectation wasn’t quite as heavy away from the London Stadium.

Nuno doesn’t see it that way, though. Every game, he says, comes with its own pressure which his players need to embrace rather than shy away from.

“Every game is a must-win game. We already have eight games that we must and should have won. So we have all these games ahead of us. Must win, must win.

“And it's not only the games. If we want to try and really improve our mentality, it has to start on a training session.

“It has to be a competitive side in the training session that I win my duel, I improve on that, and then we go for the game. But look, every game is a must-win game.”

Leeds sit four points above West Ham in the table. It’s been a steady if not sparkling return to the Premier League for Daniel Farke’s side, who have worked their height and physicality to their advantage.

There aren’t many teams better placed to exploit West Ham’s tentative defending inside their own box than Leeds, and they will have looked on gleefully as Brentford time and again troubled them from set-pieces on Monday night.

Three of Leeds’ seven league goals this season have come from set-pieces, and whilst they don’t score often, they play to their biggest strength, which just happens to be West Ham’s most glaring issue.

“Tough environment, tough atmosphere” is how Nuno described Leeds.

Ironically, his West Ham side’s predicament could be described similarly.