No spirit or drive damning for Bilic

SLAVEN BILIC began the new season as one of the favourites to be the first boss sacked in the Premier League.

After such an insipid display from his West Ham side, it’s easy to see why.

Many teams come to Old Trafford and adopt a policy of containment, but West Ham were so deep in the first half, they may as well have been sat in

the Stretford End. Such a timid approach got what it deserved, with Jose Mourinho’s side allowed to dominate, safe in the knowledge their opponents had no ambition whatsoever.

West Ham were lauded for summer transfer business, bringing in Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez.

But after just one game, this season is looking like an arduous slog for the Hammers. In mitigation, Bilic (above) can point to several key players missing – the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate, Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini, and Andy Carroll. But even accounting for those, West Ham were lamentable, with little organisation, endeavour or spirit.

Zabaleta was hailed as a shrewd signing by Bilic, but there was a reason Manchester City let him leave this summer, as the 32-year-old showed with a miserable return to his former adopted city.

United’s opener came via a counterattack at breakneck speed, but Zabaleta, finding himself stranded upfield and unable to defend, made it easier for the hosts to push on ahead and score.

And he was culpable again for United’s second, his cynical foul on Marcus Rashford yielding the freekick from which Romelu Lukaku plundered his second.

With their stadium having been used for the World Athletics Championships, West Ham next travel to Southampton and Newcastle.

Failure to yield anything on their travels before they return to the London Stadium will ensure a tough battle ahead for Bilic, who admitted: “It shouldn’t affect our confidence, even though it’s low at the moment.

“We have no other option, we have to pick ourselves up.

“We had a pretty decent team out and I expected more.”