Bilic: Road travel no excuse for clear Newcastle defeat

A subdued, dejected Slaven Bilic refused to cite any excuses in West Ham suffering their third straight league defeat to start the season Saturday afternoon.

In the post match IMG Premier League interview after his side’s clear 3-0 loss at fellow early season strugglers Newcastle, the Croatian manager chastised his side for being second best on almost everything throughout the day. And he did not want to hear about this being an usual fourth straight road game to start the season as a reason for his side being rock bottom, including the midweek travel after playing Cheltenham United in the EFL Cup.

“We can talk about excuses, but after this kind of defeat and type of performance, no one can take us out than ourselves,” he said. “So I can’t talk about the midweek game as the reason why we didn’t look fresh and fit enough.”

“We played the way we played, they were quicker, they were better in transition,” Bilic said. “They punished our mistakes for our first couple of goals. They were more powerful than us on the second balls, more physical than us. Simply, it wasn’t good enough.”

When asked about the mistakes that lead to both goals, Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini succumbing to the pressure from Man of the Match Matt Richie’s challenges, Bilic expressed how there was plenty of time for his team not to concede from those errors.

“First two goals, we gave them the ball in dangerous areas,” he said. “But still, we have to react. Okay, those mistakes were individual mistakes, but we can make it up. It doesn’t have to be a goal straight after a mistake.”

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