Slaven Bilic will treat himself to a glass of red wine after guiding West Ham United to a ‘historic’ 3-0 Barclays Premier League victory at Liverpool.
The Hammers won at Anfield for the first time in 43 league attempts dating back to September 1963 through goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho.
Both teams finished the game with ten men, as Philippe Coutinho and Noble were shown red cards by referee Kevin Friend, but the decision to send the skipper off could not dent the manager’s enthusiasm for a landmark result.
“It is only three points but it is one of those games that become more than three points,” he said. “It’s been 50-odd years and the fans who were lucky enough to be here will tell their kids that they were there for the Club.
“It’s going to be written in books and all that, but it’s also good for the players’ confidence and for everybody and we’re going to enjoy the night, to be fair.
“I don’t have to tell my kids about the win because they were watching the game in Croatia on TV! I might have one glass of red wine – there is always a glass for joy or sorrow, but tonight it will be the joyful one!”
Bilic took the most delight in the manner of his team’s victory, and rightly so.
The Hammers pressed when they needed to press, picking on certain individuals as they did in the 2-0 win at Arsenal three weeks previously, and sat deep and compact when they needed to defend.
The tactics – a 4-1-4-1 formation with the outstanding Dimitri Payet and Lanzini on the wings, Pedro Obiang sitting deep and Sakho ploughing a lone but tireless furrow up front – worked perfectly, but only because the players followed them to the letter.
The approach saw West Ham score three fine goals – the first when Lanzini converted Aaron Cresswell’s cross-shot, the second when Lanzini robbed Dejan Lovren before Noble converted a loose clearance, and the third when Sakho ran at the Liverpool defence and fired confidently into the corner.
“We didn’t nick it, we did it in style. They had their moments, but very few, because we were very mature and we did exactly what our plan was for 90 per cent of the time. All credit to the players because you can have a plan, but it’s up to the players to do it on the pitch and they did it today.
“When were defending, we were behind the ball really well and what was good, like against Arsenal, we players we needed to attack and which players we didn’t want to have the ball.”
At the same time, West Ham were outstanding when they did have possession, creating chance after chance and looking dangerous whenever they went forward.
Bilic hailed the performance of his whole team, but praised his hard-working wide-men for their contribution.
“You can’t come to Anfield and do it in style with only two or three players. The defence, midfield, goalkeeper and three up front were great, but Manuel and Dimitri did good defensive work and when we had the ball, the two of them and Diafra were very dangerous almost every time.
“They were not just giving our defence a breather, they were penetrating and I was very pleased with them.”
The Hammers won at Anfield for the first time in 43 league attempts dating back to September 1963 through goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho.
Both teams finished the game with ten men, as Philippe Coutinho and Noble were shown red cards by referee Kevin Friend, but the decision to send the skipper off could not dent the manager’s enthusiasm for a landmark result.
“It is only three points but it is one of those games that become more than three points,” he said. “It’s been 50-odd years and the fans who were lucky enough to be here will tell their kids that they were there for the Club.
“It’s going to be written in books and all that, but it’s also good for the players’ confidence and for everybody and we’re going to enjoy the night, to be fair.
“I don’t have to tell my kids about the win because they were watching the game in Croatia on TV! I might have one glass of red wine – there is always a glass for joy or sorrow, but tonight it will be the joyful one!”
Bilic took the most delight in the manner of his team’s victory, and rightly so.
The Hammers pressed when they needed to press, picking on certain individuals as they did in the 2-0 win at Arsenal three weeks previously, and sat deep and compact when they needed to defend.
The tactics – a 4-1-4-1 formation with the outstanding Dimitri Payet and Lanzini on the wings, Pedro Obiang sitting deep and Sakho ploughing a lone but tireless furrow up front – worked perfectly, but only because the players followed them to the letter.
The approach saw West Ham score three fine goals – the first when Lanzini converted Aaron Cresswell’s cross-shot, the second when Lanzini robbed Dejan Lovren before Noble converted a loose clearance, and the third when Sakho ran at the Liverpool defence and fired confidently into the corner.
“We didn’t nick it, we did it in style. They had their moments, but very few, because we were very mature and we did exactly what our plan was for 90 per cent of the time. All credit to the players because you can have a plan, but it’s up to the players to do it on the pitch and they did it today.
“When were defending, we were behind the ball really well and what was good, like against Arsenal, we players we needed to attack and which players we didn’t want to have the ball.”
At the same time, West Ham were outstanding when they did have possession, creating chance after chance and looking dangerous whenever they went forward.
Bilic hailed the performance of his whole team, but praised his hard-working wide-men for their contribution.
“You can’t come to Anfield and do it in style with only two or three players. The defence, midfield, goalkeeper and three up front were great, but Manuel and Dimitri did good defensive work and when we had the ball, the two of them and Diafra were very dangerous almost every time.
“They were not just giving our defence a breather, they were penetrating and I was very pleased with them.”