Declan Rice apologises to West Ham fans after 4-0 defeat to Brighton
‘We have let them and the club down’: Declan Rice apologizes to West Ham fans after their miserable 4-0 defeat at Brighton left the struggling Hammers just two points clear of the relegation zone .
- West Ham are in the middle of a relegation battle after a 4-0 loss to Brighton
- Alexis Mac Allister, Joel Veltman, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck scored
- West Ham captain Declan Rice has apologized for his team’s dismal performance.
Declan Rice has apologized to West Ham fans after the dismal 4-0 defeat at Brighton.
The struggling Hammers seemed to have turned the corner when they defeated Nottingham Forest 4-0 last weekend before pulling Manchester United closer in the FA Cup.
But they came apart terribly on the south coast when an Alexis Mac Allister penalty, touches from Joel Veltman and Kaoru Mitoma and a late goal from Danny Welbeck left them in the middle of the relegation battle.
“It’s a cliché to say it wasn’t good enough, but we have to apologize to the fans because we have let them and the club down,” skipper Rice told the club’s website.
‘As a player, I’m suffering, all the guys are suffering. Last week we won 4-0 and then we played very well in the FA Cup, we should have won so to have this result is a real setback.
Declan Rice apologized to West Hams for his dismal performance against Brighton on Saturday
Brighton thrashed West Ham 4-0 to leave the Hammers two points from the relegation zone
“But credit to Brighton because they played us off the field and that was not an acceptable performance at all.”
West Ham travel to Cypriot team AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League on Thursday before hosting Aston Villa next Sunday.
“Brighton wasn’t good enough and it’s going to hurt,” Rice added. ‘We’ve let the fans down massively, but we’ll move on to the next one.
“We’ll just keep our heads down, and I told all the guys ‘we listen to ourselves and the people around us, and we stick together as a group and move on to the next one.'”
We know it wasn’t good enough, but let’s try to recover on Thursday and then we have Villa on Sunday. I am sure that our fans will support us in these next two matches.’
Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Joel Veltman, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck (pictured) scored for the Seagulls as they ran rampant in a comfortable victory over the Hammers.
Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi has made a bold call to sideline goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and give 32-year-old Jason Steele just the second Premier League appearance of his career.
De Zerbi said: “I’m sad for Robert because with him I have one of the best relationships, but my job is to be a coach.”
‘You have to be honest and clear and Jason is now playing better than Robert.
‘Robert is playing well, but Jason was fantastic in building, for example, in my style. Perhaps he is closer to my style than Roberto.
“But I think Robert can work to get to the same level.”
