Ryan Babel isn’t in the mood for moral victories, and has pointed criticism for his Fulham teammates following a 3-1 come-from-ahead loss at West Ham United on Friday that left the Cottagers eight points adrift of safety with 11 matches to play in the season.
[ RECAP: West Ham 3-1 Fulham ]
Babel struck in the third minute to collect his first Premier League goal since Dec. 2010 (for Liverpool v. Aston Villa), giving him a marker to go with his two assists in five matches since arriving from Besiktas.
But his post-match comments were focused on mentality and fragility.
“Every time we start, we’re very exciting, everybody’s hungry and then we give away very cheap goals,” Babel said. “That kind of breaks our spirit very quick and very easy. Not only today, but since I’ve been here, the goals we don’t deserve the concede them because of a reason. We have to try to change that as soon as possible.”
Babel was frustrated by West Ham’s equalizer, scored by the arm of Javier Hernandez.
“It’s difficult. They should use VAR. Disappointing.”
Fulham’s next match is huge, a trip to relegation-threatened Southampton. Three of the four following matches are against Top Six sides including Liverpool and Man City.