Declan Rice has told struggling West Ham to raise their standards and warned his team-mates: “We don't want to spend the season in the bottom half of the table.”
Skipper Rice admitted he was angry after the 2-0 home defeat by Brighton condemned the Hammers to their worst start in 51 years. Boardroom hawks slapped a prohibitive £150 million price tag on the England midfielder to keep Europe's richest clubs at bay this summer.
But West Ham have little hope of holding on to Rice in the long term if they are nearer a drop zone dogfight than the Champions League football he covets. Rice admitted: “I’m annoyed and disappointed because this is not the level we have set over the last two years.
“We know as a group of players if you lose the first three games you’re constantly chasing, and we don’t want to do that. Look at the start we had last year – we were on fire and it set the tone for the season. It’s down to us to pick up and we need to get back on it.
"As a group of lads, last year and the year before we were so good because we were honest, we stayed together, we worked our socks off on the pitch and gave everything.
"I think from the start in these first three games we’re feeling a little bit sorry for ourselves. There’s no easy game in the Premier League, so unless you start to work and get three points on the board you’ll be chasing.”
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West Ham's next three games are against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Chelsea and Rice warned: “We don’t want to be down in the bottom half of the table for the season, so we need to raise our standards, we need to be better.
"We need to win the game next week, it’s a simple as that. We need to go out there, give everything, leave nothing on the pitch and walk away with three points. We just need to get our confidence back, be free-flowing, create chances and get the fans on their feet. We’ve got the players to do that, it’s down to us to do it.”
Rice's disappointment was echoed by defender Aaron Cresswell, who told the club website: “It’s very disappointing. We know man to man it is not good enough at the minute. We've got to react.
