Steven Gerrard admitted he shared supporters’ growing frustration after he was booed from the pitch after losing a third game in four.
David Moyes’s West Ham ramped up the pressure on the Villa boss with a first victory of the season, settled by a deflected Pablo Fornals second half strike.
“Losing three out of four is not the start I want or supporters want,” said Gerrard. “So yes, of course I do understand their frustrations. But I do believe we have the quality players and the thing for me that I need to get right is getting our best players in the right positions. When we get that right collectively we will score goals.
"I am frustrated at the moment because we haven’t put enough points on the board. Certainly for the players we have got in the dressing room our return hasn’t been enough. I’m aware of that but moving forward we have a choice. We can feel sorry for ourselves and it continues or we roll our sleeves up and stick together and try and put things right and I need to lead that.”
Gerrard insisted the players were not lacking in application but conceded they were short on imagination.
“Last week against Crystal Palace the performance level across the board wasn’t enough after going in front,” he said. “Today it was that bit of imagination or creative spark. We gave a lot to this game, application was there effort was there. Our creative players had an off day.
"The big moment in the second half has gone against us. We share our supporters frustration and there is no one more frustrated than me but the players have to stay together and find results now to move up the table.
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"We’ve had 90 minutes ourselves to score goals and I think that’s what was missing from our performance, that little bit of imagination and creative spark in the final third.
"We started with two attackers on the pitch and Phil Coutinho to begin to try and have that. We done a lot of things right up until a certain point in the pitch but we just couldn’t find openings. That can be two things, either our creative players have an off day or you give credit to West Ham, their organisation and defending their area really well."
When asked what else his side were missing against the Hammers, Gerrard added: "Just provide a bit of quality or cutting edge. We scored a goal but the ball was marginally outside but we never created enough good chances in the first half. They looked more positive in the second half but we didn't play with the same control.
"We tried to be positive with our subs that didn't help us. I can't fault the effort or application - we've lost a close one. I've got confidence and belief in this group but the players have to support each other.
"I was really happy in he first half, thought we were the better team and controlled but we didn't create enough to trouble their keeper. The game was finely balanced at half-time but they made a couple of changes and we stopped keeping the ball.
"The game was there for either team but obviously the deflected goal is a big moment. After that, it was a game of basketball, end-to-end, we threw everything at it, but one moment has swung it West Ham's way and that's tough to take right now."
