Daily WHUFC News - 2nd February 2017

Slaven unhappy with 'mistakes'
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic laments 'mistakes' after West Ham United went down 4-0 to
Manchester City
Two of visitors' three first-half goals came directly from misplaced passes
Hammers' defeat ended a run of two consecutive Premier League victories

Slaven Bilic was making no excuses after watching his West Ham United help
bring about their own downfall against Manchester City.
Four weeks on from a 5-0 Emirates FA Cup drubbing by the same opposition at
London Stadium, the Hammers were humbled again on home turf, going down to a
4-0 Premier League defeat. Two of City's three first-half goals came from
misplaced passes and manager Bilic admitted his team all but gifted Pep
Guardiola's side victory. "We started well and then they were very dangerous
especially when we had the ball," he began, before going onto lament the
goals scored by Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva midway through the first
period, before teenager Gabriel Jesus added a third before the break. "We
gave the ball away for their first and third goals and we made mistakes.
It's hard to go so quickly 2-0 down and then we make another mistake and
then after that we weren't aggressive enough and we didn't close them down.
"We can say that it's playing Man City and not every team is like Man City
and that's true but we have to get over this game and we have to prepare for
the game against Southampton. "They beat us 5-0 in the cup and then 4-0
tonight and make no mistake, we have to give them credit but it was also
about us. We gave those kind of players too much space and time on the ball
and space between the lines. When you give them space like that they just
slaughter you. "It was very frustrating and it's like what happened in the
cup. We again started well but when you make mistakes like we did for some
of their goals and if you give the ball away in those areas then they punish
you. After that, it's very difficult to play against them."

The home side did improve after the interval, with debutant Robert Snodgrass
showing why he was brought in from Hull City in January, and Michail Antonio
having a sweetly-struck 'goal' disallowed for offside. However, when
another debutant, Jose Fonte, was penalised for a trip on Raheem Sterling 23
minutes from time, Yaya Toure rubbed salt in the Hammers' wounds by firing a
penalty past Darren Randolph. Bilic knows his players need to perform better
if they are to return to winning ways at Southampton on Saturday, and has
demanded an improvement at St Mary's. "When you are 3-0 down you are hoping
to turn it around if you score a goal but to be fair it's more you don't
want to concede more as you know the quality they have," he admitted. "It's
a heavy defeat for us and it's hurting us a lot but we can't let it affect
us a lot and we need to bounce back like we did after the defeat in the FA
Cup. We need to show how we can bounce back against Southampton."

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Frustrating night for Hammers
WHUFC.com

West Ham United failed to build on their recent good run of form as
Manchester City recorded a comfortable 4-0 victory at London Stadium.

Slaven Bilic's side came into the game full of confidence following
consecutive victories over Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough which saw them
move into the top half of the table.

But the Hammers failed to reach the same standards and could do nothing to
stop Pep Guardiola's side recording another victory in east London,
following their FA Cup victory at the start of January.

Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva. Gabriel Jesus and a second half
penalty from Yaya Toure helped City record an emphatic victory.

Bilic made one change from the team that recorded a 3-1 win over
Middlesbrough in the last game as he handed a Premier League debut to new
signing Jose Fonte following his £8million from Southampton.

But the Portuguese defender suffered a frustrating evening in his first
start for the club and could do nothing to stop a rampant Manchester City
side.

The away side opened the scoring on 17 minutes after Aaron Cresswell lost
possession on the halfway line.

De Bruyne burst clear into the West Ham and played a neat interchange with
Jesus before slotting the ball past Darren Randolph into the corner of the
net.

City doubled their lead on 20 minutes when Leroy Sane nutmegged Sam Byram
and raced towards the byeline before cutting the ball back for Silva who had
the easy task of knocking the ball home from close-range.

The Hammers blew a golden chance to get back into the game on 32 minutes
when Andy Carroll played the perfect ball into the path of Aaron Cresswell
who was through on goal.

The Hammers full-back took a great first touch but with just Willy Caballero
to beat in the City goal he fired his shot high over the bar.

City made the home side pay as they made it three on 39 minutes as new
signing Jesus grabbed his first goal following his move at the start of
January.

Sane was involved in the build-up once again as he picked out Raheem
Sterling and the City winger squared the ball for new signing Jesus who made
no mistake tapping the ball home.

City completed the rout on 65 minutes after Fonte brought down Sterling
inside the area.

Toure slotted the spot kick past Randolph into the corner of the net.

Bilic will be hoping his players can bounce straight back when they travel
to play Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.



West Ham: Randolph; Byram, Fonte, Reid, Cresswell; Obiang (Snodgrass 64),
Noble; Feghouli (Fernandes 64), Lanzini, Antonio; Carroll (Fletcher 79)

Subs not used: Adrian, Collins, Calleri, Quina.

Bookings: Obiang, Lanzini, Carroll

Manchester City: Cabellero; Sagna, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure; Silva
(Delph 80), Sane, De Bruyne (Fernandinho 67), Sterling (Aguero 73); Jesus

Subs not used: Bravo, Zabaleta, Kompany, Navas

Bookings: De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus

Referee: Kevin Friend

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Slaven Bilic demands West Ham response after heavy Manchester City defeat
By Patrick Surlis
Last Updated: 02/02/17 12:10am
SSN

Slaven Bilic has demanded a response from his West Ham players after they
slumped to a second heavy defeat to Man City inside a month.
The Hammers, who lost 5-0 at home to Pep Guardiola's side in the FA Cup
third round in January, were soundly beaten 4-0 by the same opponents in the
Premier League on Wednesday. West Ham have suffered several one-sided
defeats at the London Stadium this season, also losing 5-1 to Arsenal, but
have the chance to get back to winning ways at Southampton on Saturday.
"It's a heavy defeat for us but after every one of them we bounce back,"
Bilic said. "After the Arsenal defeat, we bounced back, after the City
defeat in the cup we bounced back. We have to do it now. "The good thing
about football is that there is an opportunity in three days' time. "We
cannot say it doesn't matter and let's forget about it. But on the other
hand, we cannot let this affect our game and everything good that we have
done recently. "In a way we are coping better away than at home. Why? In
tonight's game we just gave the ball away and did things we didn't do last
year. "We are down. People say to treat these games like a bonus game but,
no, this was a three points' game. I expected that we would get something
out of this game. Now we need to make it up on Saturday."

Mistakes by Aaron Cresswell and Pedro Obiang contributed to two of City's
three first-half goals, and Bilic admitted his side gifted opportunities to
their opponents. "It's hard to find positive things from these games," the
West Ham boss added. "First and foremost, we have to give them credit but we
helped them. "It was kind of a copy and paste game from two weeks ago in the
FA Cup. "It sounds crazy but we started well. We didn't have too many
problems when we were behind the ball or when they had the ball. When we had
the ball they scored the first goal and the third goal. "When you give the
ball to players like David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne and they have players
with pace like (Gabriel) Jesus and (Leroy) Sane, then they punish you. And
that's exactly what happened. "After 3-0 you are hoping to turn the game
around but it is mission impossible to get back."

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