Julen Lopetegui admitted he needs to improve his communication to his players, after West Ham conceded three goals in eight minutes on the way to a heavy 4-1 defeat at Tottenham.
Mohammed Kudus scored the opening goal for West Ham but was later sent off for a shove to the face of Micky van de Ven in a match where the Hammers showed ill-discipline both in the defensive and the literal sense.
Defeat saw West Ham fall to 14th in the Premier League after a disappointing start to the season under new manager Lopetegui, whose side have won only two of their opening eight league games of the campaign.
Quizzed about the second-half period when his side shipped three goals in such a short period of time, Lopetegui said: “For sure, we are concerned about this. This is what a coach should be concerned about, and today has been a bad thing.
“It’s one thing that we can improve. Despite the fact we are playing maybe one of the best teams in the Premier League in the attacking phase, I think that we can do better in the defensive phase. We have to do better.
“Maybe I have to improve, too, my translation with my players, for sure.”
The 58-year-old added: “The first half was interesting. We did good things. We scored and had chances to score more.
“After 2-1, the worst thing for me is not being able to keep the mentality in this moment. You are losing 2-1 but you have a lot of time in front of you to draw or to win the match. That’s why, for me, we have to improve one important step — to be able to handle these bad moments in another way.”
The Hammers host Manchester United next Sunday at the London Stadium, where they prevailed 2-0 under David Moyes’s stewardship last season.
