Hammers boss David Moyes hit his West Ham stars with a Liverpool blast in the dressing room after the Palace mauling.
West Ham have just been given another embarrassing hiding as they lost 5-2 in their Premier League clash at Crystal Palace.
The defeat could and should have been by an even greater margin as the Hammers conceded four goals in the first 31 minutes.
That was officially a career low for David Moyes as a manager.
Liverpool, Fulham, Aston Villa and Arsenal have all pummelled Moyes’ Jekyll and Hyde side. Now Palace’s name has been added to the list.
Not all of this can be put on the manager, though.
Some of the players were of course jaded. But how many times do we hear players say they’d rather play games than train? So there is no excuse for what West Ham served up at Selhurst Park.
Hammers rack up some ugly numbers
It sums West Ham up that when they clawed back a second through a ridiculous own goal – they had still only registered one shot on target.
A 14th game without a clean sheet for the Hammers – their worst run since 2020.
The result is undoubtedly fatal for West Ham’s hopes of qualification for a fourth consecutive European campaign.
And it means Moyes’ side have now won just FOUR of their last 22 matches in all competitions in 2024.
Hardly a record the Scot can wave in front of West Ham’s owners if he does want to stay at the club beyond this summer.
If this is how West Ham are going to play out the season then there could be a few more humblings on the horizon.
Moyes hit stars with Liverpool blast in dressing room
Because Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City await in the last four.
Moyes usually defends his players and falls back on the tried and tested “tiredness” excuse.
But even he has been honest enough to hold his hands up and admit it was simply not good enough.
And Moyes hit his West Ham stars with a Liverpool blast in the dressing room after the Palace mauling.
Liverpool went back level on points with Premier League leaders Arsenal after a 3-1 victory at Fulham.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds visit the London Stadium next weekend highly motivated with the title in their sights.
Liverpool have 5-1 and 3-1 wins over West Ham under their belt already this season.
Play like that against Liverpool and watch what happens
Moyes has revealed he used the spectre of playing Liverpool next as smelling salts for his players in the dressing room after the Palace drubbing.
“The big thing now is seeing a response from the players,” Moyes told the club’s website.
“We’re back next week against Liverpool, and we have to be back up to speed for that one.
“I’ve told the players I expect a reaction, so let’s see if we get that.
“The players care about the performance, the team and the Club. They know it wasn’t good enough, and I’m sure they’ll be desperate to put this right.”
The prospect of facing a Liverpool side desperate to win a farewell title for Klopp is daunting.
West Ham will at least have a week to recover and should get Jarrod Bowen back for that game.
Their performances – to a man – will have to improve 10-fold at the very least to stand any chance of a positive result.