WEST HAM MIDFIELDER Declan Rice says his side have been “rubbish” recently and need to step-up in order to ease the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini.
The Hammers lost 3-1 to Arsenal at London Stadium on Monday evening despite leading 1-0 at half-time courtesy of Angelo Ogbonna’s goal, with the players booed off at the final whistle.
It was their seventh defeat in nine games in all competitions and third successive home defeat, their worst run since moving to London Stadium three years ago.
The loss will only increase the pressure on Pellegrini, who thought he had turned corner with victory at Chelsea last weekend.
However, tonight’s defeat leaves the club in 16th place, just one point outside the relegation zone.
England midfielder Rice conceded his side were far from good enough but offered his support to the manager, insisting it is the players who need to take responsibility for the recent results.
“That pretty much sums up our 16 games. First half we went 1-0 up and were frustrating them. Then second half they score two in six minutes. It is frustrating. We’ve missed a chance to move up the table,” he told Sky Sports.
It is heartbreaking. We are in the rubbish at the moment. When one goes in we need to learn to keep our heads up. They have great players but they are all preventable goals.
“We need to look at ourselves. We are making the same mistakes. We are playing good football as well but making too many mistakes.
“We have to win our home games. It is horrible to hear the boos. We want to make the fans happy. But we have lost big games here. Now is the time to stay together. Games come thick and fast and we need to regroup.
“The manager is great, the players love the manager. We work hard all week and sometimes you wonder why we can’t transfer that to the pitch.”
Pellegrini was at a loss to explain his side’s latest defeat and conceded his future as manager was out of his hands as a result.
“It is difficult to understand,” he told Sky Sports. “We dominated the game for 60 minutes and then lost the game. We didn’t score the important second goal.
“You must understand the boos (from the fans) because the last five games we played here we didn’t win. If you don’t win at home your fans cannot be happy.
“You cannot concede three goals in every game. Unfortunately for us we are doing the wrong things. We are not in our best moment but need to keep fighting.
“We must play 90 minutes instead of 60 minutes like we did today. We must be solid all game. It does not depend on me what happens (with his future).”
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