Slaven Bilic admitted there were no excuses for his side’s mistakes in Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool in the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp’s side came away from London Stadium with three points after Mohamed Salah bagged a double and Joel Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also found the net.
Manuel Lanzini did get the hosts back in the game as he reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the second half but the Reds hit Bilic’s side on the counter on a number of occasions and secured maximum points.
After the defeat, the disappointed Croatian confessed it was poor to concede the goals his team did.
“There is no excuse to concede some of the goals, a goal from your corner kick,” he said. “Then, the second goal, you can call lapse of concentration or unluckiness but, at this level, no – [there is no excuse].
“We started well in the first 20 minutes and we had a chance and we had a good shape behind the ball which was exactly what we wanted.
There is no excuse to concede some of the goals. It’s a very difficult situation
Slaven Bilic
“We changed the shape in the second half, we were more open and we were taking the risks and came back with a goal but they scored straight away.
“After that, we knew they had the pace on the counter attacks but it was a big defeat for us.”
After the Hammers came from two goals down to beat Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley in the Carabao Cup in recent weeks, there was hope when Argentine Lanzini found the net but it wasn’t to be for the hosts as Oxlade-Chamberlain grabbed the Reds’ third within seconds.
And Bilic admitted the Hammers now find themselves in a difficult position having only gained two points from their last four Premier League matches.
“It’s a very difficult situation. It’s not the effort, we can’t talk about lack of effort today. The first goal is a counter attack and the ball dropped kindly.
“Our one player who was in front of the box didn’t react really well and then it’s hard to defend a counter attack. But now it’s hard for me to talk about.”