A week after David Sullivan warned Slaven Bilic to have his side stop conceding early goals, they were two down inside seven minutes against a resurgent Leicester side yesterday.
West Ham are now winless in their last five Premier League games and have just one win in the last seven which has seen them stagnate and move into the bottom half.
Where is it going wrong for the Hammers and what is the reason for the repeated slow starts in games after falling behind in the opening exchanges against West Brom, Watford and now Leicester – failing to win any of these games in the process.
While there were positive aspects of yesterday’s second half performance, the damage was done early on as Leicester ran out 3-2 winners on the day.
Here are our West Ham player ratings.
Darren Randolph: 5
Not his best outing. Arguably should’ve gotten to Mahrez’s cross-come-shot opener, while he needs to be making himself bigger to prevent the Huth goal.
Sam Byram: 6
The return of a natural right-back was a solid one, Byram ran his socks off and was a useful outlet down the right but doesn’t quite have 90 mins in his legs.
Jose Fonte: 6
Managed to keep himself goal-side of Jamie Vardy for the most part in open play.
Winston Reid: 6
Was taken off injured early on and seen leaving on crutches. Hopefully, not a lengthy absence.
Aaron Cresswell: 6
Offered support in attack but his final ball left a lot to be desired. Was caught high several times.
Pedro Obiang: 5
Probably his worst performance of the season by his high standards. Was combative and driven but forced off with an injury.
Cheikhou Kouyate: 6
Had to move back into defence after Reid’s injury but didn’t look out of place.
Manuel Lanzini: 8
Once again, the Hammers’ main driving influence in attack. Sublime free kick to get us back in the game and just an overall superb outing.
Andre Ayew: 7
Great reactions with the headed to pull us back to within one. His movement and attacking intent was refreshing but a disastrous miss to level it up.
Michail Antonio: 6
Tried hard but wasn’t a big influence in the final third. Gutted to hear he’ll have to pull out of the England squad.
Andy Carroll: 5
Was marked out of the game by Huth and Benalouane and his shocking miss late on illustrates why investment in a new striker is needed.
Robert Snodgrass: 5
Delivery was poor when he came on Reid. Wasn’t on the same page as his team-mates and was largely invisible.
Arthur Masuaku: 6
Was a constant threat down the left after replacing Cresswell. Pushing for a start.
Edimilson Fernandes: 7
Carried the ball superbly from midfield and expressed his great range of passing. Also pushing for more minutes.