Goalscorer Arne Engels has admitted that Scott Parker was ‘really angry’ when West Ham United found themselves trailing by three goals to nil midway through a remarkable evening in Cardiff.

The Hammers have a habit of starting games slowly this season, as the recently-departed Nuno Espirito Santo knew only too well. Even by their sleepy standards, though, this was ridiculous.

Nuno’s successor has a history, though, of turning water into wine and 3-0 deficits into unexpected points. Parker was ‘inspirational’ when West Ham fought back at West Brom in a six-goal thriller in 2011. This time, the 46-year-old roared his team on from the sidelines rather than the centre of the park.

Arne Engels helps West Ham United fight back in Cardiff on Scott Parker’s debut

Parker would have been particularly pleased with the way Arne Engels burst forward from midfield to score his first goal in English football, shortly after Divine Mukasa had done the same with a sublime lob over ex-Hammers goalkeeper Nathan Trott.

Max Kilman then completed the comeback in the 82nd minute, clipping home a masterful Jarrod Bowen cross.

“It was a crazy game today,” Engels said, still recovering from a Parker hairdryer. “A bit of a shaky start, but I think the team showed great mentality in the second half. I think we can really build from there. Of course, what happened in the first half cannot happen, but like I said, the reaction was really good.

“At half time we were 3-0 down, so everybody was pretty angry. Also, [Parker] was really angry. But everybody just reflected on themselves, looked in the mirror and we said to each other, we cannot lose this game anymore because we always start really slow, but we showed really great mentality and that’s what we needed to do in the second half.

“We showed our quality, had a lot of chances, could even win the game if everything went well. We just need to be sharp already from the first minute and do what we do in the second half or 90 minutes.

“But obviously with the new manager coming in, it’s been a really good test for us now and a really good reaction and we can really build on this.”