Defender Dinos Mavropanos admitted he and his fellow West Ham United players could have no excuses following their disappointing 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool in the Premier League.
The Hammers’ strong run of form – that had delivered eight points from a possible 12 in their previous four games - came to a sudden end at the hands of the runaway league leaders on home soil, with goals from Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota settling the scoreline.
There were flashes of positivity for the hosts, with Mohammed Kudus hitting the post in the first half, but West Ham were second best for much of the contest and Mavropanos was quick to acknowledge that the Irons weren’t at the required level.
“It was a really disappointing performance from us,” the Greece international said. “It’s not the display we wished for, and we want to say sorry to our fans.
“To play against these teams you must be at a high level and play towards your best, but today we didn’t do that. There were silly mistakes throughout, and it wasn’t good enough.
“We need to move on quickly and focus on the next game now, and make sure we come back stronger.”
The manner of the majority of Liverpool’s goals were particularly frustrating, coming via deflections and avoidable situations, and while the likes of Salah and Díaz are among the most potent attackers in the top flight – the former being top of the goals and assists ranks, for example – West Ham will now be looking to regain the sort of defensive prowess that had seen them concede just three goals in their previous four outings.
With a tough looking trip to Manchester City up next on Saturday 4 January, Mavropanos insisted that the hard work will start immediately behind the scenes, as Julen Lopetegui’s troops look for a quick response.
He added: “Our preparation for the next game starts now, and we’ll work as hard as possible to be ready for the next game and to be back at the level we need to be, and should be.
“We need to be ready because the next game is going to be big for us. I hope that we will be able to come back stronger.”
