Slaven Bilic said his team paid the price for making a sloppy start at Southampton
Slaven Bilic was disappointed with the manner in which his side fell to defeat at Southampton on Saturday.
The Hammers were made to pay for making a slow start, with Maya Yoshida taking full advantage to score the only goal of the game with nine minutes played.
Victor Wanyama’s red card early in the second half gave Bilic’s side a route back into the contest, but he was frustrated that they could not make use of that opportunity.
“Of course we are gutted because this was a great opportunity for us,” he said. “It’s a game we didn’t deserve to lose – we made a sloppy start but were the better team for three-quarters of the game.
“The end of the first half, the start of the second half and especially after they went down to ten men we were better, but we can’t start like that.
The Hammers were made to pay for making a slow start, with Maya Yoshida taking full advantage to score the only goal of the game with nine minutes played.
Victor Wanyama’s red card early in the second half gave Bilic’s side a route back into the contest, but he was frustrated that they could not make use of that opportunity.
“Of course we are gutted because this was a great opportunity for us,” he said. “It’s a game we didn’t deserve to lose – we made a sloppy start but were the better team for three-quarters of the game.
“The end of the first half, the start of the second half and especially after they went down to ten men we were better, but we can’t start like that.
“We helped them a lot. They started lively, but we gave them a couple of corners unnecessarily, and from the quantity of balls into the box they’ve scored.
“We played really good after that, until we got to the box, but our delivery was not good enough.
“They defended well, even with ten men you can fill the box with numbers and we were getting into the situations where you need some extra quality.
“A better cross, or some excellent movement , but we didn’t do it. We didn’t test their keeper [often enough] and they defended really good. We are gutted that we lost this way.
“Tuesday is the next game, we have to lift ourselves up, learn from our mistakes and beat Liverpool."
“We played really good after that, until we got to the box, but our delivery was not good enough.
“They defended well, even with ten men you can fill the box with numbers and we were getting into the situations where you need some extra quality.
“A better cross, or some excellent movement , but we didn’t do it. We didn’t test their keeper [often enough] and they defended really good. We are gutted that we lost this way.
“Tuesday is the next game, we have to lift ourselves up, learn from our mistakes and beat Liverpool."