The boss was thrilled with how his team saw off West Bromwich Albion on Saturday
Slaven Bilic was delighted with the application of his team after they overcame a sticky first 25 minutes to convincingly defeat West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The Hammers withstood a spell of early pressure before putting their stamp on the game and easing away from their opponents with a Cheikhou Kouyate header and Mark Noble’s double.
The 3-0 victory took West Ham to 59 points – already the most they have ever achieved in a Premier League season – and left the boss proud of their afternoon’s efforts.
He beamed: “It is a great performance to come here and win, anyhow, but to do it in style like we did on Saturday makes us pleased and proud,
“We did the job. We weren’t in the game the way we wanted to be in the first 20 minutes and you have to give them credit – they are a physical side who can become dangerous with men in the box.
“We were second best and were on the back foot. It wasn’t good [at that stage], but we defended well and after 25 minutes we began to play the way we wanted to from the start.
“The goals helped, but it was not only the goals – the way we played with and without the ball; was quite magnificent in some moments, so all credit to the boys and with three games to go we are very confident and very hungry to finish on a high."
The Hammers withstood a spell of early pressure before putting their stamp on the game and easing away from their opponents with a Cheikhou Kouyate header and Mark Noble’s double.
The 3-0 victory took West Ham to 59 points – already the most they have ever achieved in a Premier League season – and left the boss proud of their afternoon’s efforts.
He beamed: “It is a great performance to come here and win, anyhow, but to do it in style like we did on Saturday makes us pleased and proud,
“We did the job. We weren’t in the game the way we wanted to be in the first 20 minutes and you have to give them credit – they are a physical side who can become dangerous with men in the box.
“We were second best and were on the back foot. It wasn’t good [at that stage], but we defended well and after 25 minutes we began to play the way we wanted to from the start.
“The goals helped, but it was not only the goals – the way we played with and without the ball; was quite magnificent in some moments, so all credit to the boys and with three games to go we are very confident and very hungry to finish on a high."
The goals may have come from a less likely source in the form of Kouyate and Noble, but Bilic explained that was a marker of a quality performance.
He explained: “When you have two of your holding midfielders scoring the three goals it shows you are playing good football.
“They weren’t set play goals either, they were there because we kept the composure, we kept the ball until they came to the box. The opponents were more and more occupied with Andy or Sakho, so we gave them a little more of a gap for them to come. They came and the delivery was really good.
“It’s great for Cheikhou, he had an excellent game, and of course for Mark his whole season has been exceptional. He is a real skipper, a real leader of the team, not only in the games but in every training session too. It’s a great privilege for me to have him.”
This West Ham team might already have created history, but there is no time to reflect with three massive games still ahead and Bilic says there is plenty to play for.
“There are still nine points to play for and we are not big headed, but we have to say now that the realistic target for us is a European spot,” he added.
“It’s going to be hard because there are still a few teams who want the same and the gap is not big.
“All we can do is prepare ourselves for the next game and try to beat Swansea, then the next one and the next one.
“We are going to do everything we can."
He explained: “When you have two of your holding midfielders scoring the three goals it shows you are playing good football.
“They weren’t set play goals either, they were there because we kept the composure, we kept the ball until they came to the box. The opponents were more and more occupied with Andy or Sakho, so we gave them a little more of a gap for them to come. They came and the delivery was really good.
“It’s great for Cheikhou, he had an excellent game, and of course for Mark his whole season has been exceptional. He is a real skipper, a real leader of the team, not only in the games but in every training session too. It’s a great privilege for me to have him.”
This West Ham team might already have created history, but there is no time to reflect with three massive games still ahead and Bilic says there is plenty to play for.
“There are still nine points to play for and we are not big headed, but we have to say now that the realistic target for us is a European spot,” he added.
“It’s going to be hard because there are still a few teams who want the same and the gap is not big.
“All we can do is prepare ourselves for the next game and try to beat Swansea, then the next one and the next one.
“We are going to do everything we can."