It was another bad day at the office for West Ham as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against relegation strugglers Hull City at the KCOM Stadium.
Andy Carroll’s first half strike proved to be in vain as Hull turned the game on its head after the restart, finding the net through Andrew Robertson and Andrea Ranocchia.
The defeat was West Ham’s 4th Premier League loss in a row, and 6th without a win. The run has left some fans worrying about relegation, although that shouldn’t be a problem as the club sit 6 points above the relegation zone as it stands. The gap is closer than Hammer’s fans would like, but is large enough to ensure that there shouldn’t be any panic just yet.
For large portions of the game West Ham looked the better team, Manuel Lanzini looked classy in midfield and Andy Carroll was having one of his good games, by providing a strong focal point for West Ham to play off. However, sloppy defending again proved their undoing as they allowed Robertson to waltz through the defence and Ranocchia too much space in each of their goals.
Slaven Bilic cut a dejected figure after the match, speaking to the BBC he is quoted as saying, “I was very satisfied [at half-time]. We were winning, they didn’t have a shot on target, we neutralised them.
“It was all good until they equalised. They had five minutes of a good spell but then we came back again. To concede a set-piece again, it is very hard to take. We conceded two against Leicester, one against Bournemouth, it’s no good.
“Ranocchia was basically in that position alone, and we didn’t mark him.”
On the shrinking gap to the bottom three: “They are making up ground. It’s very open and they are closing the gap. With a point we are keeping them nine points behind us, but now it’s six.”
On his future: “I’m doing my job. I’m motivated. But if we are doing so many mistakes then you will pay the price.”
Pressure is beginning to mount on the Croatian as West Ham’s poor run, which comes in an already disappointing season, continues. Although the West Ham board have recently come out and stated that Bilic has the full backing of the club, issuing a rallying cry for the fans to get behind the team and manager 100% as the season draws to a close.
“To end speculation once and for all, the West Ham United Board feel it necessary to announce that we have 100% faith in Slaven Bilic’s ability to lead West Ham United.
Despite press speculation to the contrary, the manager’s position is not under threat. The board know that Slaven and his coaching staff have the full backing of the playing squad and the overwhelming majority of supporters to lead West Ham United out of this difficult spell.
The board now urge all supporters to unite behind the manager, his staff and the squad as we go into some important games. We all have complete confidence in their ability to end a testing run of results and finish the season on a high.”
Defeat at Hull has seen the dreaded vote of confidence from the board for Slaven Bilic at West Ham. It didn’t work out that way for Claudio Ranieri, or countless others before him. Can Bilic break the cycle and get West Ham back on track in the process? Only time will tell.