Will Pugh, West Ham reporter: Hammers in transition under Lopetegui | OneFootball

After a difficult start to the season, where they have won just one of their opening five Premier League games, Will Pugh - sports journalist for Sun Sport and co-founder of the We Are West Ham podcast - believes new head coach Julen Lopetegui needs time to implement his style of play at London Stadium.

The Hammers have conceded nine goals so far this term and the second-most Expected Goals, so a more defensively solid approach on Saturday at Gtech Community Stadium against Brentford is being called for.

West Ham are 14th in the Premier League table going into Saturday’s match. What have you made of what you’ve seen from them so far this season?

They look open at the back.

I appreciate that, going from David Moyes, where it was more of a low block and counter-attacking style, it is natural, when you move away from a style like that, to expect the opposition to have a few more chances, but with the pay-off that, hopefully, you look better going forward.

However, there are no real discernible patterns of play, which is concerning.

They beat Crystal Palace away and were very fortunate to keep a clean sheet in that game, and got a draw away at Fulham thanks to a very late Danny Ings goal in a game where Fulham were the better team.

There were boos after the Chelsea game last weekend, following West Ham’s third straight home league defeat. Can you put your finger on why things haven’t clicked into gear yet?

I have got to acknowledge Manchester City are the best team in the world, Aston Villa finished in the Champions League spots last season, and Chelsea’s squad cost £1 billion.

However, while you can write the City game off, they lost 2-1 at home to Villa on the opening day and it could easily have been four.

Sometimes, when you get a new manager, you can see what they are trying to do, but the players have not quite got to grips with it as of yet.

I hope, short term, it is just a case of Lopetegui trying to change too much too soon; perhaps he can try and revert a little bit to try and do it a little more slowly and go back to being more solid at the back.

That is certainly what I would hope for from the Brentford game anyway.

Lopetegui has acknowledged the fans’ right to boo and recognised that improvement is needed. Overall, how have the fans taken to the Spaniard so far?

I would say they are still split - and, weirdly, I think they are still split about Moyes.

There are people like me who are such big fans of David Moyes, loved everything he did for the club, and felt the least he had earned was another chance to rebuild, reset and go again, which he had done before.

As successful as his second spell was, they had lulls - but he was always able to arrest the slide.

There are fans who did not want the change in the first place, and then there are fans on the other side of the divide, who were very Moyes out towards the end, saying they need to give Lopetegui time, as they can see positive signs.

But it is a results-based game and these conversations cannot go on for too much longer if they are losing week in, week out.

Which player should Brentford fan keep an eye on?

Definitely Crysencio Summerville. He made his first Premier League start against Chelsea and was by far West Ham’s best player; he looked positive and full of energy.

I was worried when he joined that he was going to be Saïd Benrahma 2.0 - and I know I am always very unpopular among Brentford fans when I talk of my disappointment of how the Algerian ended up flattering to deceive for West Ham!

But Summerville’s performances so far have made me feel anything but that.

What should Brentford expect from West Ham in terms of shape and style?

It will probably be a 4-2-3-1, with Lucas Paquetá, Mohammed Kudus and Summerville as the attacking three behind Jarrod Bowen, assuming Niclas Füllkrug is still not fit.

One thing Brentford fans should expect - though I do not want to see it - is Aaron Wan-Bissaka spending most of the game in Brentford’s half, not necessarily with the ball.

There was one win each and 11 goals in the two meetings last season. What’s your score prediction?

Through my desire to be right, rather than what I would like to happen, I think it will be 3-1 to Brentford.