Robert Snodgrass admitted West Ham United were ‘not at the races’ for much of their 4-0 opening-day Premier League defeat at Liverpool.
The Scot made his first Hammers appearance since May 2017 at Anfield, but the experience was a forgettable one as Manuel Pellegrini’s opening match in charge ended in a heavy defeat.
While they may have been second best to last season’s UEFA Champions League finalists and Premier League runners-up, Snodgrass says there is no time for West Ham to lick their wounds.
“I thought we weren’t at the races and when you get beat four-nil you can’t say you played well,” the No11 said. “It was nothing like us. In the first 15 minutes we kept our organisation but we know we need to be better than that.
“We’ve made some signings this year so we need to learn quick, learn fast and get back on the training ground and make things right and get ready to go again.
“It’s the Premier League and there’s a fast tempo and Liverpool are probably one of the best teams in the league.
“That’s the standard that needs to be set and we want to be pushing those teams, so we’ll go back to the training ground and work hard.”
We’ve made some signings this year so we need to learn quick, learn fast and get back on the training ground and make things right and get ready to go again
Robert Snodgrass
Six players made their first appearances for the club on Sunday, five of them from the kick-off and Andriy Yarmolenko from the substitutes’ bench, and it will naturally take them all time to settle into a new club and, in the cases of Felipe Anderson, Fabian Balbuena and Yarmolenko, a new country.
However, Snodgrass says that, with AFC Bournemouth to visit London Stadium on Saturday and a trip to Unai Emery’s Arsenal to follow, they will need to acclimatise quickly to life in the English Premier League.
“It’s the Premier League and we have to get up to speed. It’s as simple as that because there is no hiding place.
“We can play a lot better than that and the only way we can do that is to get back on the training ground, talk to each other and help the new lads.”