This was supposed to be the afternoon when West Ham’s attack exploded into life. They had a new striker on the bench, Lucas Paquetá was back from injury and Graham Potter felt bold enough to deploy an adventurous 4-2-3-1 system. It was set up for Paquetá, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus to run riot in the first half and for Evan Ferguson to make a goalscoring cameo after joining on loan from Brighton.
In the event there were some encouraging flashes from Ferguson when he came on after 45 minutes of dominance from Brentford. The striker roughed up his markers, almost created an equaliser for Kudus and tested Mark Flekken with a low drive. Yet there was never any prospect of a sustained onslaught from West Ham during a limp second half and, although there have been hints of progress since the departure of Julen Lopetegui last month, a return of one win from Potter’s first six games in charge is a deflating statistic for a side waiting in vain for a charge up the table.
There is a flatness to West Ham at the moment, an absence of joy, a sense they are waiting for the season to end. The atmosphere at the London Stadium was awful again and Potter, whose side remain 10 points above the bottom three, could not complain about a second consecutive home defeat.
Brentford, a model of consistency and durability in mid-table, earned this 1-0 win through their ability to excel at both sides of the game. Thomas Frank’s side were inventive and commanding during the first half and were solid when the pressure intensified later on. Kevin Schade’s early goal was enough for a third away win this season.
“I am very happy with a very impressive first half,” Frank said. “We dominated West Ham. What I like about the second half is we controlled it. We gave one big chance away but apart from that I think we were fine. It is a fully deserved win.”
One of the challenges facing Potter is West Ham’s habit of conceding early. They rarely fly at opponents and seemed unaware of Brentford’s penchant for fast starts. Only four minutes had passed when the visitors broke from a corner and found West Ham’s defence in disarray. Konstantinos Mavrapanos had abandoned his post, Emerson Palmieri made it easy for Bryan Mbeumo to release Schade and the winger scored at the second attempt after seeing Alphonse Areola save his initial effort.
It was the 10th goal conceded by West Ham in the opening 10 minutes this season. Potter is hunting for solutions but his switch to a back four did not work. Mavropanos and Max Kilman were exposed in central defence and a double pivot of Tomas Soucek and Edson Álvarez lacked drive. Brentford repeatedly cut through the middle, building through Mikel Damsgaard’s clever movement in the No 10 position.
The only negative for Frank was his side’s profligacy. Mbeumo dipped inside from the right and drew a sharp save from Areola. Schade ran clear and hit the woodwork. Yoane Wissa fluffed a header and had two goals disallowed for offside.
West Ham were awful. The biggest criticism is that they resembled a Lopetegui team. Kudus struggled in a central role and Potter could not find a way to make the most of being able to start both Bowen and Paquetá for the first time.
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“The first half was nowhere near how we want to be,” Potter said. “The goal is from our corner, it shouldn’t happen. The second half was a positive response. Today felt a bit of a step back from us in the first half.”
Potter responded with three substitutions at half-time. Ollie Scarles came on for Emerson at left-back, James Ward-Prowse made his first appearances since being recalled from his loan at Nottingham Forest and the introduction of Ferguson for Carlos Soler meant West Ham finally had a focal point in attack. Kudus should have equalised in the 46th minute, only to blaze over from six yards after latching on to Ferguson’s low cross.
There were further flurries from West Ham. Paquetá and Scarles went close. Flekken denied Ferguson and Bowen appealed for a penalty after tangling with Keane Lewis-Potter. Frank, though, was right in his assessment: Brentford were comfortable.
