Jarrod Bowen has criticised his West Ham team-mates and urged them to get their act together imminently to avoid a disastrous season.
The Hammers were beaten 2-1 by Leeds on Friday night to leave them second bottom of the Premier League after their worst start to a campaign for 52 years.
It came just days after a similarly miserable 2-0 loss at home to Brentford on Monday, and speaking shortly after full-time at Elland Road, Bowen ripped into Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
‘This is the Premier League and we need to really pull our finger out,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘As we’re in a real situation. We have to face the reality of that, the sooner it starts hitting everyone, it needs to change.
‘You can’t come out here and say anything different. You can’t say anything positive or anything in that way. You have to face the reality of where we are: second bottom and we’re in trouble now. We have to accept that.
‘It’s just not brave enough, not doing the jobs good enough until the end.
Jarrod Bowen has called out his West Ham team-mates after their 2-1 defeat by Leeds
The Hammers are second bottom of the Premier League after a disastrous start to the season
‘We get a goal back, it’s disallowed. It always felt like one goal and you always get a bit of confidence when you score. We did that, it was too late. Not good enough.’
West Ham have scored just seven goals and conceded 20 in nine games – and their defence is by far and away the worst in the Premier League.
Bowen is one of the few players to have any credit in the back from the season so far, with the forward having netted three times and added one assist, yet he has still looked short of his best.
And when pressed on whether he could pinpoint particular factors explaining the Hammers’ struggles, Bowen added: ‘There could be a lot of reasons why.
‘But the dressing room when you’re second bottom of the league and won one game all season is low.
‘I’ve said for a few weeks now, coming out and doing interviews: the only way this is going to change is if players step up, roll their sleeves up and get ready for the fight.
‘We need more of that week in, week out. When things aren’t going so well, it’s easy to hide and be scared but as easy it is to say, it’s hard to do. We have to do that, that’s my only mindset.
‘And that’s what I’ve been saying to the players: roll your sleeves up and dig in, because nobody is going to give this to us.’
Nuno Espirito Santo has lost three of his four games at West Ham since arriving last month
Nuno echoed the frustrations of his captain after full-time, with the Portuguese coach having lost three of his first four games since taking charge last month.
‘It’s unacceptable in the Premier League, these kind of mistakes,’ he added. ‘We have to be much better. We will do it. I feel the players want to. The players are willing to do things. But there are many switch-off moments that are punishing us.
‘We are doing this. We are doing it the way we approach the meetings. But it’s not happening.
‘We have to change. The players know, we know. Our fans know. The club knows there is still time. Time can also be a bad sign if we don’t change immediately.
‘That’s our responsibility, to get the best out of the players. Tomorrow, we start. After tomorrow we work. Now it’s a moment of sadness, frustration.
‘We need the fans. But since I arrived, I felt it’s up to us. We should have players who deserve their support.’
The Hammers are already three points off safety, and could go further adrift depending on the weekend’s results.
They return to action next Sunday against Newcastle before facing a crunch game at home to Burnley the following week.
