West Ham contributed to their own dropped points once more after poor defending cost them for the second week running.
On Saturday afternoon it was an uncharacteristic error from the normally superb Declan Rice that handed Newcastle a way back into the match. While the previous weekend it was a combination of first Aaron Cresswell and then Vladimir Coufal who were at fault for the Hammers conceding, two of David Moyes' most trusted players.
The trio are regular starters and rarely let their manager down, and Moyes is not questioning the motivation and willingness to work for the cause for any member of his squad.
"The work rate is there, 100%. There’s no questioning anybody [in that regard]," Moyes told WHUTV.
"If anyone questioned any of our players on their effort or commitment, I’d back the players up 100%. But what we’re lacking at the moment is being more creative on the ball, being correct on the ball, even doing the correct things defensively."
The manager was pleased with Craig Dawson's goal from an inch-perfect Aaron Cresswell set-piece but not with the display as a whole.
"We’re good at set-pieces and we got another goal from one, but I’m more miffed that we haven’t played well again," he said.
However, there was further frustration from the manager with some individual's performances from his squad over the recent period.
"I’m pulling my hair out that I just can’t get one or two players back at it, or closer than they are," Moyes added. "So we’re going to have to look closely to see what we can do about it."
The Hammers' form has dipped over the past few games and Moyes admits that he needs to get his players back to their early season form.
"We have to recognise that we’re not quite at it," he said. "We probably need to start individually, I’ll check to see if we think we’re doing the right things to get them back [to their levels], but ultimately we need to find a way of getting a better level of performance than we’re getting at the moment."
