West Ham lost out three nil to Manchester City in the first Super Match between the two sides out in Iceland on Friday.
Our final pre season friendly of the summer didn’t go exactly to plan, but Bilic could certainly point to an injury depleted squad on the day and he would’ve taken heart from the efforts of the players even though City ran out as deserved winners following goals from Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.
West Ham United:
Hart, Zabaleta (Byram 46), Fonte, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Obiang, Noble (c) (Rice 46), Ayew (Holland 86), Fernandes (Makasi 86), Arnautovic (Snodgrass 62), Martinez (Chicharito 46).
Subs not used:
Adrian (GK), Collins.
Manchester City:
Ederson, Kompany (c) (Adarabioyo 71), Stones (Mangala 57), Otamendi (Roberts 71), Yaya Toure (Fernandinho 57), De Bruyne (Sterling 57), Sane (Foden 57), Silva (Diaz 71), Danilo (Walker 57), Jesus (Zinchenko 57), Aguero (Bernardo 57).
Subs not used:
Muric (GK), Grimshaw (GK).
Attendance: 6,237.
Speaking to the Official Site Bilic knew it could’ve been a different match had we not made the mistakes we did.
‘It was part of our pre-season game and our last test and we were without a few players, to be fair, and if we want to match the big clubs like Man City, then we need a full squad and we have to be on top of our game to have a chance. The difference is that the pace and quality that they have is scary, and you could see that today. In the second half, we had some moments in the game which were good and some opportunities but not goalscoring ones, apart from a couple.’
Bilic went on to say.
‘When we took the ball from them or when they lost possession, which was not very often, we could have opened them up because they play very high, and one proper and not very difficult ball, we could have caused them problems, but we didn`t and there was the difference. When we made a mistake, as we did before the first goal, they punished us straight away, either with a goal or with a big chance. So, I`m not overwhelmed and I`m not disappointed because it is part of pre-season and we will not only play against clubs like this in the Premier League.’
Moving forward, obviously the aim is to reduce those errors so we give ourselves a chance in matches, especially against sides like City.
‘That said, you can`t make mistakes like this, and to be fair we were making them last year, like when we played Man City at home when their first goal was similar. After they score, it is then a big problem for you to turn the game around. When you don`t do those kind of mistakes, like for example against Spurs in May, then you have a chance. We did the mistake very early in the game today and then it`s very difficult.’
With summer signing Marko Arnautovic being replaced midway through the second period, Bilic did confirm that he had suffered cramp rather than an injury.
‘He`s not bad, because it was just like a cramp so it doesn`t look too bad. From that point of view it was good because no new players got injured in the game, so it was one more training for them before the season. The situation with Marko is basically nothing.’
