Ahead of playing Liverpool, Slaven Bilic says his side must iron out their mistakes
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic said his side must iron out their defensive mistakes they have made in home defeats to Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth, if they are to come away from Anfield with anything this coming Saturday.
Twice the Hammers have found themselves 2-0 down inside the first half, leaving a mountain to climb.
Speaking ahead of the Irons’ last game before the international break, Bilic said: “If you give the ball away in dangerous positions, you will lose; it is as simple as that. We had a lack of team play in the first half, as we did against Leicester City.
“Last Saturday, Bournemouth were doing the basics from the first minute better than us. They were closing us down and on their toes better than us.
“When you make those mistakes, your confidence goes right down. After the penalty our confidence went up and we had some momentum. At that moment we were in the ascendancy, but they scored a good goal.”
After only three League games, the Hammers have already experienced mixed fortunes, from the home defeats to the emphatic 2-0 win over Arsenal on the opening day.
Bilic, like all other West Ham fans, is hoping to extend the Hammers impressive away form when they play an in-form Liverpool side on Saturday 29 August.
“For me, the win against Arsenal was just that. I said after the game we need to refocus immediately. I said then that we need to try and calm things down.
“I don’t like the position we’re in. We’re not going to panic, it’s not time to panic, it’s still early days. We have to change it; I have to change it now because it is up to us to turn things around.
“We have the quality; we have aspects of our game that are good. We showed that against Arsenal, we need to rediscover that. The first halves against Leicester and Bournemouth were just not good enough.
“We need to find that brotherhood if you like and have to react quickly. We have a tough game next week away at Liverpool, it’s an opportunity, the pressure will be off us.”
Twice the Hammers have found themselves 2-0 down inside the first half, leaving a mountain to climb.
Speaking ahead of the Irons’ last game before the international break, Bilic said: “If you give the ball away in dangerous positions, you will lose; it is as simple as that. We had a lack of team play in the first half, as we did against Leicester City.
“Last Saturday, Bournemouth were doing the basics from the first minute better than us. They were closing us down and on their toes better than us.
“When you make those mistakes, your confidence goes right down. After the penalty our confidence went up and we had some momentum. At that moment we were in the ascendancy, but they scored a good goal.”
After only three League games, the Hammers have already experienced mixed fortunes, from the home defeats to the emphatic 2-0 win over Arsenal on the opening day.
Bilic, like all other West Ham fans, is hoping to extend the Hammers impressive away form when they play an in-form Liverpool side on Saturday 29 August.
“For me, the win against Arsenal was just that. I said after the game we need to refocus immediately. I said then that we need to try and calm things down.
“I don’t like the position we’re in. We’re not going to panic, it’s not time to panic, it’s still early days. We have to change it; I have to change it now because it is up to us to turn things around.
“We have the quality; we have aspects of our game that are good. We showed that against Arsenal, we need to rediscover that. The first halves against Leicester and Bournemouth were just not good enough.
“We need to find that brotherhood if you like and have to react quickly. We have a tough game next week away at Liverpool, it’s an opportunity, the pressure will be off us.”