Brendan Rodgers acknowledged that his Liverpool side were the architects of their own downfall after they fell 3-0 to West Ham United on Saturday.

The Reds had started the season positively, keeping three clean sheets and taking seven points from nine from some tricky early fixtures.

But Slaven Bilić's side broke the deadlock inside just three minutes at Anfield, Manuel Lanzini putting the visitors in front - before captain Mark Noble doubled their lead after half-an-hour following some catastrophic defending from Dejan Lovren.

Despite half-time changes, things did not improve for Liverpool, who were reduced to 10 men after just 52 minutes when Philippe Coutinho was given his second yellow card of the afternoon.

With Liverpool pushing to get themselves back in the game, with goalscorer Noble controversially sent off by referee Kevin Friend, the Hammers rounded off a miserable afternoon for the Merseyside club as Diafra Sakho added a third late into injury time.

Second goal was "difficult to take" says Rodgers

The Northern Irishman told reporters that the Reds "were disappointing" after they arrived into the game in such high spirits, describging that the early away goal gave their opponents "the boost and the lift they needed."

The Hammers masterminded a similar performance in an impressive win at Arsenal in their first game of the season, and Rodgers said that the away side demonstrated they can "sit in and defend in a low block well" - something he conceded his set his side back.

The manager added that the second goal they conceded "was difficult to take" and all of a sudden meant the home side "were right up against it" after just 30 minutes. 

He insisted that Coutinho's red card was "extremely harsh" and set them back, but that from the first period - they "never really got going" as they fell to a first defeat of the campaign. 

Reflecting on the Reds' performance as a whole, Rodgers described it as disappointing "right from the off" and said conceding so early on meant they "couldn't get back into the game again."

Nevertheless, he declared their "overall performance" both on and off of the ball "will be much better in the future", with Manchester United at Old Trafford awaiting his side after the international break.

Rodgers sets task of bouncing back for Reds

Liverpool had actually enjoyed the lion's share of possession throughout the 90 minutes, but could only muster a single shot on target from 13 attempts - whilst Firmino saw his weak-footed strike from range bounce back off of Darren Randolph's post.

The Reds boss described that prior to their clash against West Ham, the "morale and confidence" in the group was "really high" and they were "developing and improving" each and every day.

He accepted that the result was "self-inflicted" due to their avoidable defensive errors, detailing the goals which they conceded as "poor" and the "biggest disappointment" from the game.

Rodgers explained that the squad at his disposal are "a very honest group who work very hard on the training field" and that there will be plenty of analysing into what went wrong against Bilić's side and that they will now "get ready for the next game."

He said that a crucial responsibility of a top-flight team is "to be able to bounce back" - which he said will most definitely be the task in their next game, a trip to United, who have mimicked the Reds' first three results prior to their trip to Swansea City, winning 1-0 twice before a 0-0 draw in their last game.

Rodgers desperate to see his side improve next time out

The Northern Irishman added that ahead of the short trip down the M62, they will learn from the mistakes they made against the London side.

He detailed that after every game, be it a win or a defeat, they analyse the areas where they can improve and also what they did well - describing that they sit down with the players to help them improve as a unit and individually.

Rodgers, in his fourth season in charge of the club, said Liverpool "have to be better" after their disastrous showing, saying that they always want to better in the next game - which will again be the case once his charges return from international duty.

It was another disappointing result on L4, where they won just 10 from 19 last season, but in a Premier League campaign in which a vast majority of teams have fared better on their travels, Rodgers said it will be a "real difficult league" to get victories at home.

He said the concentration is to improve their Anfield record, saying they "love playing" in their home surroundings - but that they disappointed on Saturday, leaving everyone around the club dissatisfied after they gave supporters hope again with the first three results.

But Rodgers was keen to end on a positive note, saying that they have still got "seven points out of 12" so far and that the players will "re-focus again and look to put in a much better performance" after the international break.