West Ham must “face the music” after their 5-1 loss to Chelsea, but Jarrod Bowen said the squad must take accountability alongside under-fire coach Graham Potter.
The Hammers sit bottom of the early-season Premier League table, having followed up a 3-0 defeat at Sunderland with another chastening loss against their London rivals.
Lucas Paqueta’s long-range stunner put West Ham ahead in the sixth minute, but goals from Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez had Chelsea 3-1 up by half-time, before Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah got in on the act in the second half.
West Ham have now earned just nine points from 10 home Premier League games under Potter, their fewest under any manager in the competition after their first 10 at home.
But captain Bowen said the players are more responsible for their terrible start, saying Potter is unable to prevent their basic defensive errors.
Asked to summarise his emotions, Bowen told Sky Sports: “You can probably imagine… I’m fuming, disappointed, all the emotions that come with conceding eight goals in two games and not picking up a point yet.
“We got ourselves into a really good position at 1-0, but the goals were really cheap on our behalf. We gifted the goals away. We learned that at Sunderland last week and it was the same again today.
“We’re out there on the pitch, it’s easy when things are going well, but when things aren’t going well, you have to point the finger at every single person.
“We have to look at ourselves. Managers come in, but the manager can’t influence the players out on the pitch. With basic football, I don’t think we’re doing very well.
“Everyone’s got to look in the mirror and have some honest conversations as a group. We have a cup game on Tuesday, so full focus on that, then we go to Nottingham Forest before the international break.
“That international break could be a long, dark place if we go into it with three league defeats in a row.
“There has to be a reaction, we know that. We have to face the music that will come over the next few days. We have to be brave and deal with that, then put it right on the pitch.”
Potter has a win rate of just 25% as West Ham boss in the Premier League, averaging just one point per game through his first 20 matches at the helm.
Only Avram Grant (19% win rate, 0.89 points per game) has a worse record with the club by those metrics, among the Hammers’ Premier League bosses.
West Ham co-chair Karren Brady gave Potter a public vote of confidence this week, but there are still concerns that he could become only the third Premier League manager to be sacked two games into a season, after Kenny Dalglish (at Newcastle in 1998-99) and Paul Sturrock (Southampton in 2004-05).
“It was too cheap against a top team – to concede the goals in the manner we did, it was an impossible ask,” Potter told Sky Sports.
“What we’re doing at the moment isn’t enough. I have to look at myself and we have to improve. I’m the coach, I’m responsible for the team and the results aren’t what we’d like.
“I have to take that responsibility. We’re not getting the most out of the players, we need to get more and that’s my job. There’s nobody throwing anyone under the bus here, it’s a collective effort.”