West Ham United

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist

Beleaguered West Ham United boss Graham Potter continues his search for a first win of the season as his side travel to face Nuno Espirito Santo's Nottingham Forest. BBC Sport takes a look at some of the key themes as doubts surround the futures of both managers.

West Ham's woes continue

The start of West Ham United's season is unravelling quickly due to failings that have persisted from the past Premier League campaign.

Graham Potter is nearly eight months into his tenure in east London but he continues to struggle to instil his preferred possession-based style of football. The Hammers would be bottom of a Premier League table featuring only the ever-present clubs since Potter's first league game in charge on 14 January.

The former Brighton and Chelsea boss called for unity after Tuesday's messy League Cup defeat in the West Midlands to a Wolves side who had failed to score in two opening defeats in the Premier League.

Although that loss took place in a different competition, throwing away a one-goal lead in the last eight minutes is another familiar theme... West Ham have dropped an unrivalled 15 points from winning positions under Potter.

Two wins since March

Since the start of March, the Hammers have won just two of 13 Premier League matches (D4, L7).

They have faced the most shots on target in the top-flight this season (12), while only Tottenham and Brighton have conceded more goals since Potter joined.

Two defeats whilst conceding eight goals in 2025-26 constitutes West Ham's worst start to a league season since 1954.

Next they face Nottingham Forest - and they haven't scored a Premier League goal at the City Ground since 1996.

If the Hammers are to find a way to prosper under Potter they must surely see out the summer transfer window without losing Lucas Paqueta.

His influential role from last season has continued into this campaign and the 55-cap Brazil international leads the team rankings for tackles (six), possession won (10), successful passes in the final third (43), while he also ranks second for dribbles (seven).

Will Nuno see out August?

Forest are attempting to win their opening two home matches for the first time in a top-flight campaign since the mid-1980s, although the future of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo remains unclear.

The 51-year-old refused to guarantee he would remain at Forest beyond the transfer window after a falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis over new signings.

The club has spent £140m on eight arrivals, including a combined £72m on wingers Dan Ndoye and Omari Hutchinson – although Nuno has expressed his desire for a new goalkeeper and full-backs, while Anthony Elanga has departed to Newcastle.

The net result is a meeting of two clubs whose managers face uncertain futures. A win for either may not completely assuage the nature of any lingering doubts.

West Ham and England forward Jarrod Bowen in conversation with Kelly Somers.

Bowen talks about his upbringing, the impact of his family, his career so far and starting a family with Dani Dyer. From starting in non-league with Hereford United and an early Hull City move to winning the Europa Conference League with West Ham and representing England.

Asked for one more achievement he could secure in the game, he said: "I've got one I'd love to do here when I'm at the club. I'd love to win the FA Cup.

"I think growing up watching football, it is the most prestigious English cup competition. You see Crystal Palace win it last year and what it meant to them. Obviously, I'd love to win the league, playing in the Champions League, but I think something that I'd love to do this season... I think I'd love to win the FA Cup as a club."

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Melissa Edwards
BBC Sport journalist

West Ham boss Graham Potter has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Nottingham Forest (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• No fresh injury concerns or personnel changes from the squad that lost to Wolves on Tuesday.

• New signing Mateus Fernandes brings "a quality, a character, a desire and a personality", and Potter is excited for the midfielder to "take the next step" with the club.

• The Hammers boss is also confident the club don't need reassurances after a poor start to the season and believes his side are one performance and result away from getting "things on a good path".

• When asked about any more movement in the transfer market before it closes on Monday, Potter said: "We'll always look until the end of the window. You never know what's going to happen. It'll be one of those windows that's going to have a lot of activity late."

• He continued: "We need to make sure we're aware and aligned to make the right calls. You've always got to look to improve and at the same time improve the players that we have."

• On facing Forest, he said: "They're a strong side, so we need to be organised. Their transition is really dangerous, so we have to understand that. They were almost ridiculed in the first season for spending a lot of money and buying a lot of players, but they've showed they're competent and know what they're doing. It shows the gap between the Championship and the Premier League, and what you need to do is invest."

• Potter added: "They've stabilised and Nuno's come in and done an amazing job. A well-organised team who know what they're doing in defence and attack. Another tough game, but one we're looking forward to."

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra match commentary of Nottingham Forest v West ham at 14:00 on Sunday

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We asked for your views on new midfield signing Mateus Fernandes from Southampton.

Here are some of your comments:

Finnley: He is a top signing. We need pace and athleticism in our midfield and he will certainly improve our team with his flair.

Ronnie: Great signing, albeit a bit more on the expensive side. We've needed a young and explosive player in the midfield for years. I don't think it will be a turnaround overnight, but he's what we need - will give us a bit more hope for the rest of the season.

Jerry: Hopefully one of many youngsters arriving. If Graham Potter can fit them in with the ex-academy players, like Freddie Potts, we will at least have some legs in midfield. A massive rebuild needed to get us out of this mess!

Pat: Phew, just what we need and he has the international break to settle in. COYI.

David: Seems to be a good, progressive signing. How quickly he can fit in and if he is up to Premier League status yet are two open questions.

Marie: Really happy with the signing. Young and pacey - exactly what we need. Hopefully we will see Soungoutou Magassa sign too and midfield is looking good.

Dave: I would like to wish him well at the club and hope he becomes a successful player. However, this is typical of Sullivan and Brady to leave it to the last minute. Why do they put the team and supporters through the same old issue year after year? Don't shop early but wait until things start to fall apart and the manager takes the flack before moving in the transfer market. If I was Potter I would have resigned and blamed the two that need to leave our club.

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England boss Thomas Tuchel has selected his 24-man squad for the September World Cup qualifiers.

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Dean Henderson

Defenders: Reece James, Marc Guehi, John Stones, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Adam Wharton, Morgan Rogers, Declan Rice

Forwards: Harry Kane, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins

Image source, Getty Images

New West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes says it is a "big step" for him after completing a move from Southampton.

The 21-year-old has joined on a five-year deal for a fee in excess of £40m, making him the Hammers' third-biggest signing, behind Sebastien Haller (£45m) and Lucas Paqueta (£51m).

Fernandes signed for Southampton last summer for £15m from Sporting and made 46 appearances for the Saints, scoring four goals and providing seven assists.

"I'm very happy to be here. I'm very excited to play for West Ham," he told club media. "I think it's a big step for me.

"It's a big club, a massive club. The project, the stadium, the city, everything.

"I want to try to play football, enjoy football, not just run and try to score, but try to play good football.

"I think the most important thing is to try to give everything every day."

Fernandes is a Portugal Under-21 international and comes with Premier league experience, having been one of the standout players in Southampton's relegated side last campaign.

West Ham boss Graham Potter added: "Mateus is a young player who has made impressive progress in the early part of his career, and we are delighted to have secured his signing.

"He gained valuable experience in the Premier League last year with Southampton and is someone we really feel can help improve us and fit into what we are trying to build and develop at the club.

"We believe that his attributes and strengths will bring a different dimension to the squad and, from speaking to him, I know that he can't wait to get started here.

"He has shown great maturity and character for someone so young, and we look forward to seeing his continued progress and impact at West Ham United."

What do you make of the signing? Is this what the Hammers needed? How big of an impact can the midfielder have?

Get in touch with your views here

Paris FC's 19-year-old French defender Dimitri Colau will undergo a medical at West Ham on Saturday before signing a four-year contract with the Hammers. (Footmercato), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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West Ham are looking to sign Brazilian goalkeeper John Victor, 29, from Botafogo but the Brazilian club want to agree a fee much higher than £6m if the move becomes permanent in the future. (Sky Sports), external

West Ham have told Everton that they want to keep Tomas Soucek after the Merseyside club launched an enquiry for the 30-year-old Czech Republic midfielder. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Sunderland hope to convince West Ham centre-back Nayef Aguerd, 29, to join them but Marseille, AC Milan and AS Roma are all interested in the Morocco international. (Footmercato - in French), external

Genoa are considering a late move to sign Maxwel Cornet from West Ham after the Ivory Coast international impressed manager Patrick Vieira on loan during the second half of 2024-25 season. (Tuttomercatoweb - in Italian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

In a sense, West Ham's problems date back to the aftermath of that euphoric night in Prague, when the club ended a 43-year wait for a trophy by beating Fiorentina in the Conference League final.

Owner David Sullivan announced virtually immediately that Declan Rice would be leaving and Tim Steidten came in as technical director to help reshape the Hammers squad with the £105m received from Arsenal.

Except it didn't quite work out as planned.

For a start, Steidten and David Moyes were not aligned in their thinking, which eventually resulted in the German being banned from the training ground.

West Ham spent the Rice money and more on four signings - all of whom initially flattered, then became either inconsistent or ineffective.

When Moyes left in 2024 - a move most accepted had to happen - Julen Lopetegui was chosen as his replacement by Steidten. Another £140m was spent on new players who, as a collective, made limited impact.

Lopetegui was sacked in January. Steidten left the following month.

It was into this maelstrom that Graham Potter stepped.

As is his way, Potter has played down a desire for new signings. He is not the type to bemoan his lot publicly. He prefers to work with players to try to improve the collective group. That will not change no matter what pressure he comes under.

Potter is working hard to correct the situation of their reliance on Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta.

However, many West Ham fans have lost patience.

For all the noise around Potter, the interesting thing is the Hammers, historically, are not a sacking club.

If they end up in a mess, Sullivan's first reaction, usually, is to demand the manager gets the club out of it.

It is the tactic Sullivan followed with Moyes and, to an extent, Manuel Pellegrini before the Scot and Lopetegui afterwards.

The axe tends not to fall until after many have predicted.

That is not to say Potter has unlimited time. If Sullivan feels no progress is being made, he will make a decision.

The other point to remember, at the moment, is that Kyle Macaulay, a long-time associate of Potter, is now West Ham's director of recruitment. Clearly, we are still in a transfer window and the Hammers are trying to buy players.

Unless all the responsibility for this has been taken out of Macauley's hands - and there is no suggestion that is the case - Potter is presumably heavily involved.

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James Jones
Fan writer

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Three games into the new season and the direction in which West Ham is heading has never been more alarming.

Graham Potter was given the benefit of the doubt after he arrived at the club in January. He inherited a squad of players which was in decline under the previous two managers, but he still managed to steer the club away from relegation trouble and oversaw impressive away wins against Arsenal and Manchester United in the process.

But now, with the club conceding 11 goals in three games and looking no where near good enough to compete at the top level of English football, the pressure is rightly building on Potter's shoulders.

There are several factors to consider in this situation, though. Indeed, tactically West Ham have been very poor over the last couple of weeks. The back three doesn't look suited to their jobs, the midfield is slow and cumbersome, and the attack is far too reliant on one player delivering each week.

Elsewhere, you have to wonder how this summer's PSR restrictions have hindered Potter's recruitment wishes. That isn't his fault and there is a belief that the club wouldn't be so desperate for reinforcements in the final week of the window had he had a bit more freedom to go out and get whoever he wanted.

But good managers adapt and at the moment, Potter isn't adapting. He's sticking with a formation that isn't working and a midfield that isn't good enough.

Can he salvage it? It all rests on the final few days of the window. But if there is no sign of improvement this weekend against Nottingham Forest, it's difficult to see how he survives beyond the international break.

Find more from James Jones at We Are West Ham, external

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on whether Graham Potter is the right man to take West Ham forward this season, or if it's already time to be looking elsewhere.

Here are some of your comments:

Dave: It's hard to fully judge Potter as he inherited a declining and hugely unbalanced squad (even going back to under Moyes) which we've made worse by releasing and selling important players. He seems to have no support from the board in terms of improving it. We should have had all our signings lined up ready for when Kudus was sold. But at the same time his team selections are baffling, his substitutions (or lack of) equally so. We have no identity or pattern of play under him and the players look a disorganised, lost mess. We are a shambles. But I'd rather David Sullivan left over Potter.

Tom: I think the ship has sailed for Potter. The way he sets up the team and his in-game tactics are baffling and not the way that our squad likes to play. He's a nice bloke, performed admirably at Brighton, but he's been found out at Chelsea and now at West Ham as well. I think he needs to go to a lower league side to get his confidence back before tackling the bigger leagues. West Ham cannot continue with Potter, Brady and Sullivan. We need a complete overhaul if we are to stay up this year, otherwise I fear we are going to go past the point of no return.

Jonathan: Still believe in Graham Potter, he simply doesn't become a bad manager overnight. The issue is that he hasn't been supported by Sullivan and the board and has been made to rely on the signings of Lopetegui so the team he puts out still isn't his own. I do believe he'll get it sorted and turn our form around though.

Steve: He has to go. His record since he arrived is simply awful. His obsession with possession-based, defensive formations simply doesn't work. The hierarchy at the club have to take responsibility as well, out of all their managerial appointments has anyone taken this club forward? There is no way he is a Premier League manager.

Image source, Getty Images

Three games into the new season and it is three defeats for West Ham and boss Graham Potter.

After a heavy loss to his former side Chelsea at the weekend, the Hammers followed it up by letting a lead slip against Wolves to suffer an early exit from the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

The statistics for Potter's time at West Ham do not make for pretty reading - as you can see in the post below this one.

We asked for your views on his future after the opening game of the campaign and the response was pretty split.

So, how are you feeling now? Can Potter take this West Ham side forward? Or is it already time to be looking elsewhere?

Get in touch with your views here

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport journalist

It was a messy night for West Ham in the West Midlands as they fell to a third successive defeat of the new season. The Hammers have conceded 11 goals so far in 2025-26 and Jarrod Bowen's apology following a confrontation with supporters is the latest sign of a club struggling on and off the pitch.

The overriding concern for West Ham fans is that the warning signs have been there for some time. Since Graham Potter took over on 14 January, the Hammers would be bottom of a Premier League table featuring only the ever-present clubs.

Since the start of March, they have won just two of 13 Premier League matches (D4, L7). They have also faced the most shots on target in the top flight this season (12).

The Hammers have also dropped 15 points from winning positions under Potter – the most of any Premier League team during his tenure. Meanwhile, two defeats - and eight goals conceded - constitutes their worst start to a league season since 1954.

Image source, Getty Images

The competition may have changed on Tuesday, but defensive frailties were once again exposed by conceding twice in the final eight minutes. They shipped three goals to a Wolves side who had started this campaign by failing to score in two defeats.

Potter himself has called for unity following the Molineux setback, but with a record of just five wins in 22 games since replacing Julen Lopetegui at London Stadium, time may already be running out to turn his side's long-standing issues around.

Next up is a trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday - and West Ham have not scored a Premier League goal at the City Ground since 1996.

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It should not look this bleak this early but it is hard to pick out the positives for West Ham.

When Jarrod Bowen walked over to applaud the travelling fans at the final whistle it was a show of support.

Yet stewards then appeared to stop Bowen getting any closer to the supporters as the forward became angry, potentially over something said in the crowd.

What started as a show of unity ended in highlighting the Hammers' fractures and it underlined the tension which has already started to boil over after just three games.

Three defeats, 11 goals conceded and just days of the transfer window left.

The Hammers go to Nottingham Forest on Sunday and Graham Potter needs quick results, especially after being undone in the final 10 minutes.

West Ham are close to a £17.3m deal to sign AS Monaco's 21-year-old French midfielder Soungoutou Magassa. (Guardian, external)

The Hammers are exploring a deal for Nottingham Forest's Ivory Coast defensive midfielder Ibrahim Sangare, 27. (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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Image source, Getty Images

West Ham boss Graham Potter, speaking after his side's Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Wolves: "We're all in pain so we need everybody to help, we need everybody's support, we need to push forward and on to the next match.

"The team's suffering at the moment, we all are, we're all hurting. I can assure you no-one's happy."

On captain Jarrod Bowen appearing to confront fans after the game: "I have no idea what was said or anything. Our supporters have been fantastic, they are hurting because of the results we've had and Jarrod obviously cares about the club and the team. It's just an exchange of views by people who care.

"Everyone is hurting, rightly so because we haven't had the results we'd like. Jarrod has been a fantastic captain and servant for the club."