THE only people more confused than the West Ham fans after this performance will be the owners, who must be wondering what they have got for their £100 million outlay on players.

On this showing the team looks less organised than under David Moyes, with some of the most expensive signings, such as Issa Diop [£22m] and Andriy Yarmolenko [£17.5m]  left warming the substitutes bench.

New West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini seemed unperturbed by the latest display, acknowledging that it was always going to take time for things to settle with a new manager and so many new players.

Pellegrini highlighted how the team played well for the first 45 minutes but in the second half made mistakes.

He acknowledged that the struggle of last season could still be on the players’ minds and contribute to a lack of confidence when things go wrong. “We need to work for 90 minutes, not 45,” said Pellegrini.

West Ham started brightly enough, with some sharp interplays between Felipe Anderson and Chicarito. One such exchange on the half hour saw the Mexican striker’s legs swept from under him, resulting in a penalty, which Marko Arnautovic converted with ease.

There were though some warning signs in the first half with Callum Wilson having his shot easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski when clear in the penalty area and new striker David Brooks shooting narrowly wide.

Bournemouth were a different side in the second half, pushing on all the time and regularly carving the West Ham defence apart.

The equalising goal when it came was something special, with Wilson picking the ball up deep and ghosting past Fabian Balbuena and Pablo Zabaleta before putting the ball wide of Fabianski.

Five minutes later, Angelo Ogbonna gave away a needless foul on the edge of the penalty area. The resulting free-kick saw Steve Cook power between defenders to plant his header in the back of the net.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe was pleased with the reaction he got from his players in the second half. He credited “Callum’s individual moment of brilliance” for swinging the game in the visitors’ favour.

West Ham fans though will not be happy with another poor start to a Premier League season, with the next opponents being Arsenal at Ashburton Grove.

And, despite all the spending, they must be wondering: is this the beginning of another season of struggle at the wrong end of the table?