Niclas Fullkrug has blasted his team-mates after West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Southampton on Saturday. Jarrod Bowen had opened the scoring for the Hammers after 47 minutes before Lesley Ugochukwu equalised for the already-relegated Saints in added time, leaving West Ham without a win since late February.
Graham Potter’s side could not contain their disappointment at throwing away the victory late on, and Fullkrug did not hold back in his criticism when speaking to Sky Sports after the match.
He said: “It is a mindset problem. Very angry today. Not disappointed, just angry with what we did after the goal. It was difficult to bring the boys back to push up. We didn’t push up anymore. We tried but we didn’t have the ability or the motivation to push up again.
“I’m very, very angry that we played like this because we had some minutes where we showed what we can do against an opponent like that at home. We showed that we can have good possession, that we have can go in behind and that we have the chances to score again. But the motivation, sorry we were s***. I’m very angry.”
Fullkrug has made just 13 Premier League appearances for the Hammers so far this season following his move from Borussia Dortmund, but he did not hold back in claiming that the problems he has witnessed against the Saints were too frequent.
He continued: “It’s not the first time that we score a goal and from the next thing we just shoot the ball long. We don’t try to play football anymore. We don’t push up anymore. We just sink. And that’s not the way we want to play.
“We can play 65 minutes before with possession, even if it’s not perfect, but we try to play. We try to create chances, we try to score, and then we score a goal, and after that, half of the team tried to score again and the other half of the team just try to defend very deep and that’s not the way it works.
“We have to find a way to have togetherness, to have the idea where we want to go, what we want to do. The coach is very clear of what he wants but we have to do it all, everyone has to do it.”