Stand-in skipper Tomáš Souček admitted there was widespread frustration and disappointment among the West Ham United dressing room following the 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Hammers were hoping to record back-to-back triumphs in the top flight for the first time this season, in the wake of Tuesday night’s 3-2 success against Fulham, but they were ultimately undone by two Jean-Philippe Mateta goals in the second half.
A Dinos Mavropanos red card - for two bookable offences - bookended an afternoon to forget for Graham Potter’s men, who failed to register a shot on target throughout the 90 minutes at London Stadium.
“We have to do better,” said Souček, who had scored his fifth goal of the season in his previous outing against the Cottagers. “Obviously, we have a few players missing at the moment, especially in attacking areas, but we didn’t create many chances at all.
“Their first goal was tough to take. I think both teams could’ve done better in the first half, and we’d discussed things going into the second period.
“We knew that first goal could be really important, so it was really frustrating when they scored so quickly after half-time.
“We were full of positive emotions after the win the other night, and today is quite the opposite. But we’ll keep working, and hopefully we can come back stronger.”
As it stands, defeat leaves West Ham 14th in the Premier League table, now below Palace, with a trip to Aston Villa - who knocked us out of the Emirates FA Cup little over a week ago - lying in store next weekend.
With Potter having overseen three games in little over a week in charge, Souček is looking forward to a full week of training behind the scenes, as the whole squad looks to become more familiar with the new boss’ methods.
And having worn the armband during each of the Irons’ four outings in 2025 so far, in the absence of injured Club captain Jarrod Bowen, the 29-year-old is determined to play a leading role in a strong finish to the campaign.
Souček added: “The message [from Potter] has been clear, about how we can’t change everything straight away, and that it is a process. But, we still have to be motivated for the challenge, and to have the mentality to fight for every point in every game.
“The fans have always been amazing, and I have such good memories of when they were travelling all over Europe to support us. That’s where we want to get back to, and we have to fight to do that.
“We have some time in training now, and I think we’ll see during the week what the manager’s main principles are. We need to keep going, and keep practicing, and I’m hopeful we’ll get there.”
