All Whites captain Winston Reid is coming under pressure following West Ham United's disastrous start to the English Premier League season.
The Hammers have lost their last three games at their plush new home of the London Stadium. The latest was a 3-0 loss to Southampton overnight with thespotlight coming on a faltering defensive unit where Reid is one of the king-pins.
West Ham has now conceded 11 goals in their past three league games and Reid was blamed for playing a part in at least two of the Southampton goals.
With injuries depriving manager Slaven Bilic of both his first team left-backs, Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku, the Croatian was forced to transfer the 33-year-old Álvaro Arbeloa to an unfamiliar flank.
The marquee summer signings of Simone Zaza and Sofiane Feghouli are still feeling their way into the Premier League. There are other injuries in the squad, too; Andy Carroll and £20m André Ayew among others.
"West Ham's defending in particular was woeful," wrote the Guardian's Paul MacInnes before turning the blowtorch on Reid for his role in helping concede two of Southampton's goals.
"For the second, first Winston Reid and then Cheikhou Kouyaté presented the ball to the opposition....Reid, so reliable for the Hammers for so long but looking error prone this term, did not cover himself in glory for Southampton's third, either."
Reid has been with West Ham since 2010. Earlier this season, he copped a stray elbow from Manchester City star Sergio Aguero who copped a three-match ban.
Bilic has not ducked any blame for the poor start.
"It is my responsibility, it is my team," he told reporters after the match. "I am not flying away from the responsibility and I don't want to point fingers.
"We are talking behind closed doors. It is never one player. One player can make a mistake and you can lose a game. It is a team, it is teamwork, it is a team mistake. But definitely these are the same players and same manager and crowd that were doing it last year.
"But it is true that at the moment we have to be clear, everything that was really good last year is bad. Everything that was average last season is way below par.
"We can say the season is only just started. But it's happening for four games now and we have to change it big time. It is not working. I told the players after Watford or West Brom there is no need to panic. The credit was there. Now the credit is gone. Same with me. If you ask me if I am low tonight, of course. We lost the game 3-0 at home and we deserved to lose."
