Bilic – We were not good enough

  • West Ham manager Slaven Bilic said his team were not good enough in the FA Cup on Friday
  • The Hammers were comfortably beaten 5-0 by Manchester City at London Stadium
  • Bilic said the performance was a huge disappointment and now attention has turned to next week’s game against Crystal Palace

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic admitted his side were nowhere near good enough as they were beaten 5-0 by Manchester City in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.

In a hugely disappointing night for the Hammers at London Stadium, they fell behind early when Yaya Toure scored from the penalty spot after Angelo Ogbonna’s adjudged trip on Pablo Zabaleta.

After Sofiane Feghouli missed a golden chance to equalise, things went from bad to worse for the hosts as a Havard Nordtveit own goal and David Silva’s strike made it three before the break.

And Sergio Aguero and John Stones both added to Pep Guardiola’s side’s tally before the final whistle as West Ham were eliminated from the FA Cup at the first hurdle.

A dejected Bilic was disappointed at the way his side performed after encouraging signs in the early minutes.

He said: “Of course it’s a bad defeat for us. We started well but in the space of 15 minutes after the first goal, when we had the chance to equalise, we made a mistake and they had enough quality to use the space behind and inbetween the lines.

It was not good enough and nowhere near the performance we had here a few days ago against Manchester United.

Slaven Bilic

“What disappointed me the most is that after the first goal, we chased them all over the pitch and then in those ten or 15 minutes we conceded two more.

“As a team, it was not good enough and nowhere near the performance we had here a few days ago against Manchester United.

“We were much more compact then with ten men, so that’s a big disappointment tonight. It was 3-0 and of course it was game over.

“At half time we wanted not to concede more goals, to stay at 3-0 or make it 3-1, but we conceded a couple of goals and as you said, it’s very bad for us.”

The Hammers will now turn their attention to next weekend’s home fixture against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and boss Bilic hopes the squad can lift themselves during the week ahead.

“Always when you have a big defeat, it affects the confidence,” he continued. “The game against Palace though, we have enough days to work and get the confidence back and be ready against Palace.

“Tonight’s result was fair and it was very hard for us to find any consolation. For half an hour, it was good for both sides. It was a very bad tonight at the end.

“But in the game before, some players played really well last time with ten men [against Manchester United], and they showed that we can defend well as a team. It showed we do have quality in the team.”