West Ham have endured a difficult start to the new season, losing both of their opening games on the road to Manchester United and Southampton- conceding a total of seven goals in the process and scoring just twice.
A 4-0 defeat to Manchester United on the opening day was hardly a surprise but the circumstances of the 3-2 loss to Southampton this weekend, where a woeful first-half saw the Hammers fall two-goals behind and reduced to ten men, has raised the pressure on the East London side.
Speculation has already begun to suggest that the Hammers could backtrack on their decision to keep faith in manager Slaven Bilic and eye a new recruit, with the Croatian boss’ future being a major talking point as we edge towards a crucial clash with Newcastle United this weekend.
For now, Bilic has to remained focus on the immediate task in hand and Sky Sports reports the boss is fuming with record-signing Marko Arnautovic after his dismissal against the Saints for violent conduct.
When asked what he though about the incident, Bilic said of the Austrian international’s actions:
“You can’t do those kind of things. I am fuming, still now – you can feel. I am fuming, but it happened. But no more. Not him, not anybody else. I am confident the message got through.”
“The players they know and they can’t let the team down and also of course him. And whoever does those kind of things will get the fine, of course. He will get fined. He was angry at himself. He still is. He regrets it, so he is angry at himself. But he can’t do it any more.”
“We had a chat. He said he is sorry, and he apologised, I don’t know, three or four times – on social media, here, in front of the whole team, on the bus, in the dressing room, everywhere.”
Arnautovic is set to miss this evening’s Carabao Cup tie against Cheltenham due to suspension, as well as this weekend’s trip to Tyneside to face Rafael Benitez’ Newcastle United. He’ll also miss the first game of the season at the London Stadium, which takes place after the international break against Huddersfield Town.