West Ham boss Slaven Bilic admits confidence is rock-bottom

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The Hammers lost 3-0 at home to Southampton to make it their worst start to a season for 14 years.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has told the club’s official website his side are desperately seeking a win to kick-start their season after a horror start to the campaign saw a fifth loss in their opening six Premier League matches.

Sunday’s defeat to Southampton made it four league losses in a row for the Hammers with off-the-field issues surrounding the London Stadium playing a part in West Ham’s difficult start as well as performances on the pitch.

A return of three points makes it the club’s worst opening to a season since 2002, when worryingly they were relegated from the top flight at the end of the campaign.

Throw into the mix the failure to qualify for the Europa League group stages for the second year in a row going down to the same opposition of Astra Giurgiu and the pressure is mounting on Bilic to turn things around before his position becomes increasingly under threat.

Bereft of ideas and lacking any attacking threat and defensive understanding, the Croatian believes a lack of confidence is to blame for their woeful form and is backing his side to find their feet sooner rather than later.

“We are not the first or the last team who has been in this situation in the Premier League and most of it is about confidence, but the Club has the same players and the same manager who did good things last year,” said Bilic.

“Eighty per cent of the team is the same, and of course we can talk about confidence and urge them to be confident, but you need one or two good results to get that confidence and that’s not happening at the moment.

“We are working hard in training, analysing and talking and it’s good until the game comes and someone punches us in the face, then we have a problem.”

Security concerns and teething problems at the Hammers’ new home have played a part in lowering morale, but performances simply have not been good enough with the jury still out on several of Bilic’s summer signings.

With a huge 16 goals shipped in just six league games it is a worrying stat with a former defender at the helm. West Ham’s ambitions are not being met with results on the pitch and must show they are a big club as their stadium and fan base demands or a change of manager will soon be in the offing.