West Ham captain Kurt Zouma has apologised to the fans after their embarrassing loss to Fulham.

After defeating Tottenham 2-1 on Thursday night, the Hammers had a brilliant opportunity to fire themselves into the top 6 against Fulham. Not only did West Ham not capitalise on this, they suffered their heaviest defeat under David Moyes.

A lack of urgency going forward and a shambolic defensive performance saw Fulham win 5-0 at Craven Cottage. The Irons skipper Kurt Zouma spoke extremely honestly about his feelings as well as what went wrong for his side. “Today was a really bad day,” he told the official site. “It was a bad day at the office and there was nothing today. Our performance was really bad. Losing five-nil, there is nothing to say, just sorry to the fans who came to support us. It’s a day to forget and we have to bounce back really quick.”

“I think they were better than us everywhere on the pitch. They were just better than us, they ran more than us, they wanted to win more than us and physically they were maybe sharper than us.”

Unfortunately, the hosts simply outclassed West Ham to the point it was never really a competition. 

“I think we couldn’t deal with them today,” the defender confessed. “Physically we were nowhere near the levels and even mentally I would say we were nowhere near the levels, me first, and like I say it was a day to forget.”

“We have to take responsibility and we take it and we stay as a team and we have to bounce back as quick as possible.”

What’s most disappointing is what the loss really represents. It shows the lack of ambition this side has – it feels like every time they can break into the European places they just crumble under the pressure.

Despite the Frenchman stating “it’s behind us,” you can not help but feel this defeat could go on to define West Ham’s season. 

Some have put the blame on the schedule, which meant Fulham had an extra 24 hours to prepare for the game, but Zouma made it clear that the responsibility lies on the players. 

“Maybe, [it made a difference]” he stated, “but we are professionals, and we are used to playing Thursday and Sunday even though physically it is hard, especially after the game we played against Tottenham which was very difficult, but there was nothing for us today, like I said.”

“It was a very, very bad day and I feel sorry for the fans who came up. There is nothing to be said. We just have to go home, rest and recover and get ready for the next game.”

Such a heavy defeat could not have come at a worst time as they face Freiburg in a pivotal finale to the Europa League group stage. Our Irons must take the anger from Sunday’s loss and use it as motivation if they are to overcome the German side – the fans deserve a proper performance on Thursday.