Slaven Bilic declared himself happy to end the losing run of games but unhappy not to have taken three points from the game against Middlesborough.
Speaking after the game he said: “We were looking for three points but the boys showed character, spirit and quality. That’s what I demanded and that’s what they gave me.
“As I say we are not happy with the result but we are not playing the football we should to create chances although it was good in terms of spirit and character.”
He explained that he had been pleased with Michail Antonio’s performance in a central strking role saying: “I have not been happy with the performances of our strikers and Antonio has the pace and power to play the role which he did well.”
He hailed Dimi Payet’s goal as “unbelievable” saying: “It was of the highest possible quality and you certainly don’t see many like that but in relation to this match it was of incredible importance.
“That was what you need from your top players – moments of the highest quality.
“However, with due respect to Middleborough we wanted three points but having said that, in terms of the Premier League every point is incrediby important.”
I’m with you Slav, good performance, so much better than previous games… one step at a time, there’s the light at the end of the tunnel… lol 😉
COYI
The team selected was to stop leaking goals. How on earth was you expecting to get 3 points playing Tore and bringing on Zaza who are clearly not premiership standard.
No match for two weeks so we now have 14 days of experts telling Bilic how it should be done. We are all in for a real treat.Someone hand me the shotgun.
Well we didn’t lose . So that in itself is a forward step . But still nevertheless Not a performance to sing about . This Stadium is causing us nightmares . Can’t wait for our injured players to make a comeback , but who knows how they will react to the tepid atmosphere this stadium is creating . One can only hope we improve a heck of a lot more .
It was hard to see who was the newly promoted side today .
Well it aint like Upton Park was banging when the team wasnt playing well Kevin.Maybe you have selective memory,you could hear a pin drop there sometimes as well in recent times.
Yeh , you’re right , STM . I remember those ” you could hear a pin drop ” moments at Upton Park only too well. Just looking for any excuse I suppose , and wishing we would sort it out .
Haha… Slav is about to sign a truce with the Experts, Stevo…but for the next two weeks, he will be observed in case there might be any strange behaviors, such as going out to dinner or playing with his little daughter… he must stay focused on West Ham day and night… loool 😀
& dont forget that Dimitri must carry on scoring goals like todays every match otherwise he should be dropped for not showing commitment according to THE experts lmao
Haha… goals better than todays Stan… lmao 😉
Well it was a little better performance today. Obiang did OK, better than either Nobes or Kouyote anyway. He provided some much needed cover for the back four which has been missing in earlier games. Still look suspect to long ball over the top with two CB’s and keeper on different pages. Limited movement up front which makes Payet and Lanzini look bad. But with the quality due to come back after this latest break, we will continue to improve. So let’s all keep the faith. After all, there must be at least three worse teams than us over 38 games. Sunderland and, er, two others hopefully!
Lol Jimbo i think by the end of the season there wil be many teams worse than us.
So fingers crossed we should have Cresswell & Sakho back after the international break.Maybe China Doll as well if he manages to come out of the pub before kick off 😀
China Doll can do whatever he wants Stan, he’s unstoppable, unplayable, unbreakable, unbelievable and immortal… I don’t know what you expect from him, don’t forget he’s underpaid… lool 😉
Bilic was pragmatic today with Ogbonna at left-back, Obiang as midfield cover and Antonio as the central striker. He picked a team that was more defensive and compact.
Why Tore was on the pitch I have no idea, swapping him for Zaza in the second half made no sense to me – it’s a bit of a toss-up between Tore and Zaza as to who is the most useless but there’s not much in it!
Antonio was all action, with seemingly limitless energy and effort – ditch Tore, Zaza and Calleri and put them back on a plane to wherever they came from – they are all useless – you have to seriously question the judgement of whoever suggested we sign them!
The other thing of note is that Noble got subbed again after 70-odd minutes, is he carrying an injury or is he just not up to doing the full 90 minutes?
And finally a brilliant goal from Payet – I’d prefer to see proper Team goals but it’s got to be up there as Goal of the Season!
What do you mean – One-Man Team?
Bilic might be happy but I’m not.Why on earth didn’t Oxford get on the bench this week is beyond me. Zaza & Tore shouldn’t even be in the team.Comparing Zaza to Bergkamp is ludicrous.Give the kids a go.They can’t be slower or as useless as some of the muppets on show at present.
After watching another Noble masterclass on delivering nothing, passing the ball sideways and slowing the game down to a smails pace it’s easy to see where the problem is Slav 🙂