Nuno Espirito Santo admits West Ham 'very far' from establishing identity after calamitous Brentford defeat | OneFootball

Hammers have lost every home game this term

Nuno Espirito Santo has admitted West Ham are “very far” from developing an identity under his management following their 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford.

Instead, though, familiar issues reared their head as the Hammers, without a point at home this season, were comprehensively outplayed by their visitors, with goals at the end of each half from Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen sealing the Bees’ first points on the road under Keith Andrews.

Nuno has spoken at length about trying to define the ‘West Ham way’. He knows how important it is to a club who have struggled for identity over the years.

However, after a calamitous performance, in which his side registered just one shot on target, the Hammers boss admitted he was far from being able to identify the image in which his side should play.

“It is very far. For a while all of us want [to find an identity] but we have to persist and commit ourselves to achieve it,” Nuno said in his post-match press conference.

There were swathes of empty seats at the London Stadium, with a portion of supporters boycotting the game in protest against the club’s board.

Nuno said the atmosphere, which grew quieter as West Ham continued to struggle to assert themselves in the game, echoed the concerns of everyone at the club and that it was understandable to see so many empty seats at the full-time whistle.

“I think we are all concerned,” the Portuguese head coach continued.

“You can feel it from our own fans. You can see that they are concerned. Then this concern becomes silence, silence becomes anxiety, and we have a problem, we have a problem.

“It is understandable. Since I arrived, [there has been a] clear awareness that it's up to us to change. It is up to us to change this.

“I think our fans must see something that they like, something that pleases them so they can support us and give us energy like we feel it in the beginning of the game. Our fans were behind the team because the team was playing well. The moment that momentum changed, that is what we have.”

Nuno, who remains winless as West Ham boss, said his players tried to ignore the silent atmosphere inside the London Stadium, but was clear that they could not hide from the challenge ahead of them after their sixth defeat of the season.

“We try to ignore it. We try to make them feel that they have to be comfortable so they can express themselves well. But we cannot hide ourselves.

“It is there to see. The imprecise situations that we have, passes not clicking. It has to do with many aspects, and mentally it is one of the aspects that we have to solve.”