Slaven Bilic: West Ham not in a good place after fifth straight defeat
Wednesday 5 April 2017 23:09, UK
Slaven Bilic says West Ham are now in an unhappy position after five defeats on the trot in the Premier League.
Their latest defeat, a 3-0 reverse at Arsenal on Wednesday night, means Bilic's side are five points off the drop zone with seven games remaining.
They go up against Swansea at the London Stadium on Saturday, where the gap could be reduced to two points with some tough fixtures coming up for the Hammers.
They then go to Sunderland, before facing Everton (H), Stoke (A), Tottenham (H), Liverpool (H) and Burnley (A)
Bilic told Sky Sports: "It was tough, we put ourselves in that position, five defeats on the spin, from being in a comfortable zone we're in a zone where we're not very pleased to be in.
"I said to the guys, forget this game. Every game is massive between now and the end of the season, but the one on Saturday is the one, the massive one that could change everything, at home to Swansea.
"Nobody can change it but us, we have to believe in it, and we have to change it. Swansea are behind us, five points behind us, we can make it eight points behind us, and that's what we have to do. It's going to be a very nervous game, but we're going to be ready for that.
"It's down to the manager of course, it's my job, it's easy to be the manager when you are winning, and now we are fighting for our life. We have a gap OK, but it's still up to us."
Goals from Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and sub Olivier Giroud in the second half gave Arsenal the victory, with West Ham rarely threatening the Gunners' goal.
Bilic felt West Ham played well for the first third of the game, but insists the end result was more than fair.
"In the first half I think we started well, we were active on the ball, had a few opportunities from set pieces and counter attacks.
"Then after the last 10 minutes of the first half we started to lose the ball too early. The second half started the same as the first finished, though we were not under great pressure.
"They didn't create too many chances, and then scored, and to be fair they deserved to win the game."
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