Football
John Brewin, ESPN FC 6y

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic takes 'full responsibility' for ugly Brighton loss

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic took "full responsibility" for his team's 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, a defeat that places him and his team under severe pressure.

"I'm manager of the team, I don't want to hide behind anything, it's my responsibility and it's up to the board of course," he said, after two goals from Glenn Murray either side of a strike from Jose Izquierdo knocked the Hammers down to 17th place in the Premier League.

"Bilic's future has been in doubt for some time and co-chairman David Sullivan was sat in the stands. When Murray scored Brighton's third from the penalty spot in the 75th minute, the London Stadium rapidly emptied of home fans.

"I have experience," Bilic continued. "I've been there before. That's all I can say. All I can say is that I believe in my work and in my team and we showed in the last six games. When you lose 3-0 to Brighton you can't be happy about anything."

West Ham, missing striker Andy Carroll through suspension, were otherwise close to full strength.

"I will not pinpoint the players in front of the media," said Bilic. "I'm the manager. I don't want to run from that. It's my responsibility. Of course, I can't be happy with our performance."

West Ham had lost just one of their previous six games, but Friday's defeat places them a single place above the relegation zone, where they might drop if Leicester win at Swansea on Saturday.

Bilic said: "We were really looking forward to this game, with the greatest respect to Brighton. We've looked good in the last six games and had most of the players back from injury.

"We thought this was going to be the game to lift us up the table and bring back the confidence."

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