David Moyes points finger at players in strong West Ham warning as he issues Julen Lopetegui defence

Former West Ham manager David Moyes has warned the club that under-fire boss Julen Lopetegui should be given more time following his summer appointment after a tough start to life at the London Stadium.

The Hammers have won just three of their opening 10 Premier League fixtures and an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last weekend has piled the pressure on the former Wolves manager. Lopetegui has seen his West Ham side lose 3-0 to Chelsea and 4-1 to Tottenham Hotspur this term.

Former Everton and Manchester United boss Moyes did point out the flaws in Lopetegui's leaky defence but, when speaking to the BBC's Football Daily podcast, shifted a large portion of the blame onto his former players. He said: "I had a few defeats where we lost heavily at different times, so it happens for all managers.

Moyes - ‘Players need to perform’

"I think the new manager coming in needs time and to be given that opportunity to set things the way he wants them to happen. They look as if they’re a bit more open than they’ve been before and more liable possibly to concede. But they’re desperately trying to score more goals as well.

"This time last year, I think we’d played about five or six more games than what they have just now, because we had the European competition to compete with as well. So the players there should be much fresher, bigger energy, showing that.

"But I just think that the manager needs to be given an opportunity, a bit of time to settle things down. Sometimes players need to perform as well, they need to step up and show what they’re about. I’m sure a few of them can play better and show the manager exactly what they can do."

It has been reported this week that should Lopetegui fail to guide his team to a result against Everton in front of a home crowd this weekend, he will face the chopping block after just 11 league matches in charge of the side. Speaking after the defeat to Nottingham Forest, Lopetegui apologised to fans for the team's form.

Lopetegui apologises for West Ham form

He said: "We have to say first of all sorry for our fans. We are very disappointed today and we have to use these hard moments to push forward and to look forward to the next challenge. We can and we have to do much better.

"We have to look forward to the next challenge against Everton and try to use this moment to remind us and push us up.

"Hopefully we can get everybody back together and regroup. I think that we need to have this kind of environment against Everton at home. It’s going to be hard but for sure it’s going to be important for us.

"We have to be ready to prepare for this match this week and to think that there are a lot of points in front of us. But if we want to achieve good things we have to compete better. We have to be more consistent."