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Graham Potter admitted he has problems to fix at both ends of the pitch after Crystal Palace condemned him to a first Premier League defeat as West Ham boss.
Two second-half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta, a long-range strike and a late penalty, secured a deserved 2-0 win for the Eagles.
West Ham did not muster a single shot on target and had defender Konstantinos Mavropanos sent off for two fouls on Mateta, meaning he will miss next week’s trip to Aston Villa through suspension.
And with Jean-Clair Todibo sidelined for the foreseeable future with a calf injury, Max Kilman is suddenly their only fit senior centre-half.
“The more time you have, the more information you get about the group,” said Potter.
“We’ve learnt some stuff today, which is going to be important for us going forward. We’re going to try and improve every area of the club, every area of the team, because that’s what our supporters demand of us. That’s what we want.
“We need to attack better and we need to defend better. If you’re conceding goals, it makes it difficult.
“At the same time, if you’re not attacking well, if you’re not creating chances, if you’re not pushing teams back, you end up defending a lot. So, both things we have to try and improve.
“We don’t like it, but we have to be honest as well and say that we didn’t deserve to win. That’s not nice to say at home.”
New England boss Thomas Tuchel was in attendance to see Eberechi Eze set up Mateta for his opener, a low drive from outside the penalty area.
Mavropanos received a second yellow card for a high boot on Mateta before he wrapped up the win from the spot after Lukasz Fabianski brought down Eddie Nketiah.
“I think we controlled the game over the whole time and we didn’t give West Ham a clear chance to score,” said boss Oliver Glasner.
“We scored our goals in the right moment, straight after half-time and then when they tried again to get the equaliser we decided the game with the penalty.”
Victory completed a pleasing day for Glasner, who signed 19-year-old winger Romain Esse from neighbours Millwall on Saturday morning.
“You know, we said ‘who lives closest to the training ground?’ And it was Romain because he can walk over here,” smiled Glasner.
“It’s just three minutes to walk. It’s sustainability and he doesn’t need a car. So let’s get him.
“It’s good Romain joins us and can now train with us. He’s a young player and a typical Crystal Palace signing.
“We are convinced of his skills. He has a great first touch and understanding of the game. We will work with him and support him, stepping up from Championship to Premier League, so he gets known to it.”
