Slaven Bilic is anxious that some West Ham players are still living on last season’s performances.
He is clearly is concerned that some of them are stuck in a “comfort zone” and said: “We’ve already spoken about it.”.
And he added: “It’s very easy to get into what I call a comfort zone, to get out from overdrive.
“It’s like being in cruise control, when you’re on the motorway and you drive like that and you become sleepy.
“It’s the same in football, in marriage, in a company. If you’re in a comfort zone it’s not good.
“Some people think it’s just being calm in yourself. No. That’s totally different. You have to be at it. We were like that most of last season. But we didn’t have it in a couple of games this season.”
He wants the squad to recall what happened to the big clubs last season who may have believed they were bombproof from failure.
He said: “Chelsea lost it last year and Manchester City didn’t achieve. OK, City qualified for the Champions League but it wasn’t good enough, and it was because of being in a comfort zone.
“No team can play in the Premier League like that – we are not the kind of team that get away with it because of the quality they can put on the pitch.
“We’re not that team, 100 per cent.”
Interesting piece by Trevor Sinclair on bbc sport yesterday.
We are down on ground covered, sprints made etc compared to last year, and whilst that’s all games, it includes games at the new ground which is a bigger pitch. Not sure why that should be but we are a team that needs intensity playing at least at 100%. Slav has nailed that so will be interesting to see how it improves.
Those stats are fairly meaningless – the comparison needs to be with our first four games, not the whole season. But regardless of the stats no team can afford to play at less than 100% for the whole 90 minutes, hoping to sea a big improvement today. COYI!
My problem is I think some of our players are playing at 100% but are not good enough,
Others will never play any other way and some are trying to impress to much which is causing the problem,
Slav needs to watch our games so far this season and he will work this out like so many fans,
He can not stay loyal to Collins,Reid,Noble ,Tore And AC for much longer without losing the dressing room and the fans,
He has a brilliant squad and I am not saying the above are not finished but they need to change there approach and attitude to the game,
Class will always come through,Payet,Lanzini,Ayew,Zaza,
Feggolui,Kouyate,Ogbonna,Cresswell will hit form and then become consistent,
Antonio Musakuka are already there,
Norveld Sakho Oxford Fletcher will progress and fight for there place as well,
We just need to find the right combination and hit that’s winning run,
I for 1 am not panicking
Slav is bang on it. At two nil up against Watford they took their foot off the gas. Rested on their laurels. Believed their own hype. They forgot how hard this league is and how any game can turn. Same as last year any team can beat any team. With the money in the premier league now even teams like Watford have fantastic players now. All these so called lesser teams have strengthened beyond recognition.
I think Noble Carroll Collins were amongst our best players last season bubs. They were the British spine that kept us motivated fired up and driving forward as a team. Admittedly Collins and noble haven’t started this season as well as they did last. But you don’t write players off after a few games surely. Especially when one of them is your captain.
Sorry ffs Bilic can you not start picking the best team – you are as much to blame with your team selections.
Everyone has a different view on what the best team is at the end of the day.Just because Bilic doesnt pick your choices doesn’t mean he is wrong.
This is my one real bugbears when fans tell a manager he ain’t picking the strongest team based on the fact that he doesn’t include their preferences!
Too right Rick. Too many experts starting to turn on Slav because he’s not picked the players they want in the team and with all the new additions to the squad and competition for places things are only going to get worse.