Some of my players were way below their

DAVID MOYES offered a damning assessment of West Ham’s early-season troubles and bluntly told some of his squad they are letting him down.

Moyes is dismayed by the Hammers’ start to the campaign, which has seen them take just four points out of 21.

West Ham’s fifth defeat in seven games dropped them into the bottom three and the quality of the performance angered their manager.

There was no attempt from Moyes to offer the added burden of Europa Conference

League football as an excuse for West Ham’s laboured efforts at Goodison Park. Instead, he argued the challenge of blending new faces — married with certain players being out of form — is having a detrimental impact on results.

‘We had a game on Thursday night, so you have to take that into consideration,’ said Moyes. ‘We are trying to put new players in, to get the best out of them and find out a bit about them.

‘But (here) I found out little bits, mainly about the players I already knew about. They were the players in the main who let me down with their play overall.

‘The players who played last year are down on their level as well. We had shown signs we were getting back to it but I don’t think we did here. When we got into the final third, it was nearly always the wrong decision.’ To watch Moyes on the touchline, throwing his hands up to his face in despair and

running them across his head in exasperation, gave a clear insight into his feelings about how West Ham played in a game that was settled by Neal Maupay’s 53rd-minute half-volley.

‘If you look back then we would say we felt we were dropping down and we were aware of that,’ said Moyes. ‘That’s why we have tried to improve it.

‘I recognised back in February that we weren’t quite as strong. We chose not to bring anyone in last January and I could see it. But the truth is we got to a European semi-final, we were challenging until the last 20 minutes of the Premier League for sixth place.

‘Let me tell you we weren’t dropping away that far — we were challenging. But I could just sense we needed new players. A lot of those players we are talking about played today and I have to say I need them and I need them to play at their best.

‘I’m the one who takes responsibility and I’ve got to get those players back at that level quickly. Hopefully we will do that.’ Frank Lampard, meanwhile, offered assurances Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not suffered another injury setback. The striker was scheduled to return to action yesterday following a six-week lay-off due to a knee injury, but the Everton manager had a change of heart.

‘The reason for taking him out was to be sure, with two weeks’ break, we could get him fit,’ said Lampard. ‘I didn’t start him and it might have been risky to put him on. ‘Hopefully we can have him back at Southampton (on October 1) and with two weeks of training he’ll be ready.’