On Friday, Slaven Bilic's mood was dark, bordering on defeatist. "I felt really bad," West Ham's manager said. "Not only me, we all felt bad."
Last Saturday, West Ham delivered the worst performance yet of a desperately disappointing season. Arsenal were 5-1 winners on their first visit to the London Stadium, a scoreline that would actually flatter Bilic's team. Within the club, there followed a week of intense soul searching. The issuing of a "vote of confidence" on Monday evening by joint-chairman David Sullivan felt necessary. If West Ham fans are worrying about their team, a single point above the Premier League relegation zone, then their manager had taken it just as hard.