Julen Lopetegui apologised to the Claret and Blue Army following Saturday’s 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Chelsea.
West Ham United have now lost their first three home games of a new season for the first time in their history after two first-half goals from Nicolas Jackson and one from Cole Palmer early in the second made for a difficult afternoon at London Stadium.
The Irons were cut apart twice inside the opening 20 minutes by long, straight passes which Jackson finished past Alphonse Areola, before the same player turned provider for Palmer to lash high into the net and end any realistic hopes of a Hammers comeback.
West Ham’s best period came after falling 2-0 down, but the opportunity to halve their deficit from the penalty spot was denied when referee Sam Barrott decreed Wesley Fofana’s pull on Crysencio Summerville did not warrant a foul being award.
As it was, though, Lopetegui was not looking for or making any excuses when he spoke to West Ham TV after the game, instead vowing to work hard with his staff and players to improve performances, defensive resilience and results going forward…
It has been a tough day.
We had a big expectation and a mission to win this match, but it's true that I think that we started well, but in the first action, we suffered a very, very soft goal and after the first goal and the second one I think that was more difficult.
We had chances but we didn't score before the half. I think that we had one penalty [appeal], and a clear chance that we needed to score to produce more in the second half, but in the first action, we suffered another goal.
I had the impression that on each occasion they have scored very, very easily and, of course, it is going to be more difficult to compete in this kind of fashion. So, we have to improve and to change these things to compete in Premier League.
We need the clean sheet as it is very important to be able to stay in the match. You can’t suffer very soft goals, so we have to change this. We are very, very, very sad, all of us, but we have to change our minds and our ambition for the next match against Liverpool and to look forward despite [the fact that] today, we are very, very unhappy.
The referee can give us a penalty but for me, it's not a key question.
The key question is that we can't concede these kind of goals that we need to do to stay in the in the match until the trigger moments. Okay, we have to improve this.
We suffered against Aston Villa and Manchester City too this kind of situation and we have to correct, to change and to improve this.
We are going to do that for sure and I think that if we want to compete in all the matches in the Premier League, we have to be more consistent in this kind of approach.
It was a tactical decision to replace Guido Rodríguez [after 37 minutes], but when a player is replaced before the half it is not the fault of the player.
It is the fault of the coach, so it is about me and not about Guido.
Maybe I can do better if I change one player before the half. It is about this and trying to watch myself and not the player in these moments.
The message for supporters is first to say we are sorry about today.
We had a big expectation today, and we are going to do all that we can to do our best, to work more and to change things, for sure, because the season is going to be very, very long, very long and I am sure that this team is going to change a lot of things.
But okay, I think it’s a moment to work, to not talk a lot, and to look forward.
