West Ham to make another appointment as Nuno Espirito-Santo admits 'we have a problem'

West Ham United are on the verge of confirming the arrival of goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa to join Nuno Espirito Santo's coaching team.

Barbosa was on the bench for the Hammers' brutal 2-0 home defeat to Brentford, which saw numerous supporters jeer the team and leave the London Stadium before the final whistle.

Nuno was visibly worried by the display, admitting his side "have a problem" after they failed to lay a glove on the west Londoners.

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However, Barbosa, who is expected to replace Casper Ankergren as Lead Goalkeeper Coach after he left the club following Graham Potter's sacking, could be a boost for the new Hammers boss.

The Portuguese born manager is a long-term ally of Nuno, having worked with him for 13-years over the course of spells at Nottingham Forest, Al-Ittihad, Tottenham, Wolves, Porto and Rio Ave. Goalkeeping has been a vital weakness for the Hammers this season.

Summer signing Mads Hermansen, who arrived from Leicester City for £20million, was quickly dropped for Alfonse Areola, after a string of poor performances. Nevertheless, Areola has also been heavily criticised, with the likes of Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher previously blasting the Frenchman.

However, he was arguably the best player on the pitch for West Ham against Brentford. He made numerous saves to keep the score down to 1-0, before Bees substitute Mathias Jensen blasted a second goal into the top corner in the 95th minute.

Nuno's reign at West Ham began with a positive 1-1 away draw to Everton which saw them have many opportunities to win the game. However, Arsenal and Brentford have both convincingly beaten the east Londoners either side of the international break.

Any momentum gained from the draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium has seemingly evaporated, along with the hopes of West Ham supporters. In his post-match interview, Nuno firmly acknowledged there are many deep rooted problems at the club.

He said: "Not good enough. Poor. Fairly Brentford won the game, they were the better team. I think we are all concerned. You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. We have a problem. It's understandable. It's up to us to change.

"The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy. I understand it, I understand it totally, and I respect it. It's up to us, it's up to us to change it."

West Ham's next few fixtures may well be labelled as must win matches. They travel to fellow relegation battlers Leeds United on Friday October 24 and host Newcastle United on Sunday, November 2.

A home clash against Burnley also marks the end of what looks like a relatively favourable run of fixtures before the next international break, as the next three games are an away trip to surprise package Bournemouth, a home clash against Liverpool and an away trip to an improving Manchester United.