West Ham United's Troubling Start in the Championship

West Ham United's new beginning in the Championship was intended to bring positivity and hope to the club's supporters. However, dissatisfaction among fans has steadily increased following their latest setback, a 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic, resulting in a disappointing start to the season. After the match at the London Stadium, where players were booed off the field, head coach Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged that they had "let the fans down."

The defeat marks another discouraging outing for West Ham as they seek immediate promotion. With mounting frustration, The Athletic examines what has changed and what remains consistent from the previous season.

In a critical moment, forward Taty Castellanos missed a penalty that could have equalized in the dying moments by striking the outside of the post. This penalty was his first since a miss for Lazio in October 2024, and he had previously scored 15 penalties since the 2019-20 season, with four misses. Following Jarrod Bowen’s missed penalty in April’s FA Cup quarter-final, sources indicate that it was decided Castellanos would take the next awarded penalty. Last season, Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, who transferred to Flamengo for €41.25 million in February, had taken turns at the spot. Nuno expressed confidence in Castellanos, stating, "We trust Taty to take the penalties," although he remained non-committal about whether Castellanos would continue in this role for the upcoming match against Southampton.

Fan discontent was palpable, echoing the sentiments from the previous season. Only one point had been accrued from their first two league matches, resulting in renewed boos from the crowd. After the incident against Burnley, frustration was reinforced with players receiving jeers during the halftime interval against Charlton. Nuno confronted the pressure head-on, emphasizing, "Of course. Most of the time it’s all pressure… 60,000 to 62,000 people in the stands and we let them down today."

Defensively, West Ham has struggled significantly, allowing four goals in their first two matches. The defensive duo of Konstantinos Mavropanos and Maximilian Kilman, who faced challenges in the Premier League, continued to show vulnerability. They faltered in key moments, failing to prevent goals from Charlton's Tyreece Campbell and others. Nuno noted, "We started bad again… It became much harder, we created a lot of situations but were not accurate enough in the boxes."

Central defensive options remain limited, and with just over a week until the transfer window closes, addressing defensive weaknesses is critical. Attacking-wise, West Ham lacked the width and creativity often seen in previous squads, resulting in inadequate threat levels. With the upcoming EFL Cup match away at Southampton looming, Nuno's squad needs to deliver an improved performance to avoid further dissatisfaction amongst supporters.