'We're in trouble now' - Jarrod Bowen rips into West Ham team-mates after 'really poor' Leeds defeat leaves Nuno Espirito Santo's side in crisis

West Ham were 1-0 down after just three minutes in Yorkshire when Brenden Aaronson was quickest to react to an Alphonse Areola stop that landed in the six-yard area. The USMNT star fired home to send the home fans wild and just 12 minutes later, they had doubled their lead. Taking full advantage of the Hammers’ frailties at set-pieces this season, Joe Rodon rose highest to knock in a header from a corner and all-but wrap up the game for Leeds.

As he so often has done the last few seasons, Bowen was on a one-man mission to come up with the goods for the Hammers. The skipper fashioned a number of chances out of nothing for him and his team-mates, but until the 90th minute, they failed to beat Lucas Perri. Producing a deft flick from Bowen’s whipped cross, Mateus Fernandes was able to glance into the corner and create a few jitters around the ground.

The Leeds faithful needn’t have worried, though, as it was too little, too late. West Ham were on the losing end of another Premier League game, their seventh from nine game this season, and they remain deep in relegation trouble. Only Wolves have accrued fewer points than the Hammers this season, and could leave Bowen’s team rooted to the bottom of the table should they win their game in hand against Burnley on Saturday.

Speaking to Sky Sports, via the Evening Standard, after the game, Bowen shared his grievances about the performance which, he said, was "not good enough". The winger was frustrated that they had once again conceded from a corner and slammed the feeble defending.

He was open and honest at the state of the atmosphere at the club, and laid bare the worrying state West Ham find themselves in.

"A dressing room when you're second bottom of the league is low. The only way this will change is if we step up and show some fight. We need more of that. It's easy to hide and be scared almost. It's easier said and harder to do sometimes," Bowen said. "You have to face up to the reality of where we are and we're in trouble now."

The West Ham skipper continued to admit that they were not playing, but insisted that "we're the only ones that can change it".

"We've talked as a group, but it's down to the players as well. We speak to each other, but there's only so much. It's got to come from within. We haven't been great at home, but now is the time to roll your sleeves up."

The defeat also spells the fourth game without a win for new manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The Portuguese coach was hurried through the door shortly after his questionable dismissal at Nottingham Forest to replace the outgoing Graham Potter.

Yet, if the Hammers’ hierarchy were expecting to get a new manager bounce, those hopes have fallen flat fast. Aside from a 1-1 draw away at Everton in Nuno's first game in charge, the club have not won a single point since August.

The fear of relegation will continue to grow at the London Stadium for as long as this poor run of form continues. Concerns will not be eased by the performances of the newly-promoted teams, with Sunderland (14 points), Leeds (11) and Burnley (7) already proving far stiffer competition than recent new arrivals in the division.

West Ham are joined in the relegation zone by two of Nuno's former clubs. Wolves prop up the table, but could leapfrog the Hammers by the end of the weekend, and Forest, now managed by Sean Dyche, will be determined to add to their victory over Porto in midweek.

The tests keep coming for West Ham, too, with Newcastle visiting east London next weekend before they face a must-win game against Burnley. Relegation could become a real possibility, and the impact of such humiliation would be costly.