West Ham United

Slaven Bilic: 'No surprise about struggles for Premier League sides in Europe'

By Callum Mulvihill, Reporter | 18 September 2015

It should not be a surprise to see three English sides suffer defeats in the Champions League, according to former Besiktas boss Slaven Bilic.

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has insisted that it is not a surprise to see Premier League clubs struggle in Europe this week.

Chelsea managed to start their Champions League campaign with a comfortable win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, but Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United all suffered defeats in the first game of the group stage.

Rather than express shock about the losses, Bilic claims that the clubs in Europe deserve more credit for their performances.

"It isn't a shock. You can lose in Zagreb. It was a major surprise, the whole of Croatia is surprised, but it can happen," the Hammers boss told reporters. "They play football there as well. They are a decent team, unbeaten in 41 games or whatever.

"They are not naive but you have to know that the other teams are also good.

"For you it was probably a shock when Besiktas knocked out Liverpool last year. For us it wasn't. A little surprise but we were hoping for that and planning for that, to be fair."

Three defeats from four games is the worst start made by Premier League representatives in the Champions League.