David Moyes criticised the “weak” performance of all West Ham players after the 6-0 win over Arsenal.
But the Kladivar boss asked disgruntled fans to remember that the last three years have been “probably the best West Ham have ever had”.
Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal extended West Ham’s winless streak to seven games, with many fans leaving the pitch at half-time with their players trailing 4-0.
Criticism of Moyes’ defensive style of play has intensified in recent weeks, with fans frustrated by the team’s poor results and allegedly negative tactics.
“A really bad day for us,” said Moyes. “It’s very difficult to explain how we played so badly.
“Arsenal played extremely well, we have to give them credit.
“The disappointing thing for me is that since I’ve come back to the club, I don’t think my teams have ever defended like that. The disappointment is that we were weak today, we didn’t do our job well enough, we didn’t fight for stronger possession. We could have scored other goals.”
Moyes touched on the growing unrest among fans: “If you are a football fan, there will always be bad times. Especially at this club, which people know a lot more about than I do – I’ve come back twice to save it from relegation.
“Just three months ago we were probably having the best time West Ham have ever had. Let’s be honest, probably the last three years have been as good as West Ham have had.
“I still think this club has grown, [but] we’ve undoubtedly had a terrible day today. That’s why I completely understand them leaving. Sometimes bad days happen in football clubs. Today we had a bad day. But I will certainly not forget the good ones.”
Moyes added: “The defensive play is simply not good enough. I don’t know what other words I have. We all take a share of the responsibility. I and my staff have to look at what we could have done differently.
“Last month we won 2-0 and missed a penalty in the last minute to make it 3-0 at the Emirates. Maybe we have forgotten: a month ago it was us. And we probably didn’t have such a strong team on the pitch that night. We probably had people who were absent.
“Today I thought maybe we could have had Arsenal’s number – but it was far, far from that.”