Slaven Bilic believes the Boleyn Ground will give West Ham United a ‘big advantage’ when they take on Manchester United in an Emirates FA Cup sixth-round replay.
The Hammers will host the Red Devils in April following a dramatic 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, when Dimitri Payet’s wondrous free-kick was cancelled out by Anthony Martial’s volley with just seven minutes remaining.
West Ham had chances throughout, with Emmanuel Emenike, Andy Carroll and Michail Antonio all going close, while Manchester United were thwarted by a series of heroic blocks and clearances that kept Darren Randolph largely redundant.
When the equaliser did come, it was marked by controversy as the Ireland goalkeeper appeared to be blocked off by Bastian Schweinsteiger as he tried to keep out Martial’s shot.
While admitting to being slightly disappointed not to see his side go through to the last four at Wembley, Bilic is confident the Claret and Blue Army can help them get the job done second time around.
“Dimi has it in him – we all know this,” the boss began. “He’s got that kind of magic but before he took it I thought it was quite far out so it’s got to be perfect, and it was perfect!
“There was still a long way to go when Dimitri scored and we knew that they were going to take risks and make situations to put pressure on us.
“We played a really good game of football, and it’s hard to play at Old Trafford, but if you ask what we should have done after the goal because they were very open and risking things, I would have said I was expecting us to create from these situations two or three clear-cut chances, which we didn’t do. The last pass, we failed to make and then we conceded a goal.
“OK, the atmosphere in the dressing room was very silent. I said to the guys it’s nice on the one hand to feel like that, because that shows me that we were feeling confident despite being totally on the ground and we are moving in the right direction.
“On the other hand, we are in the game and we play the replay at home, which is a big advantage for us.”
Bilic admitted his players were feeling low at the final whistle, but said that being frustrated by a draw at Old Trafford is a measure of how far his squad has come this season.
“We could have been one goal up at half-time, and they also had a few situations where we made brilliant blocks and all that, but in the game we played a good game of football and we are very confident that we can win the replay.”
That confidence will be boosted further by the home crowd, who will surely mark the final FA Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground with an atmosphere akin to that which welcomed Liverpool in the fourth-round replay in February.
That match was settled by Angelo Ogbonna’s late header, and Bilic would love to see West Ham beat another of English football’s most-famous clubs on home turf in similarly exciting fashion.
“We thought the last one against Liverpool was going to be the last FA Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground and the atmosphere was special, and I can’t imagine a better one because it was a replay against Liverpool and we scored a goal in the last minute with a great header from Angelo.
“Now this one is like Manchester United, the biggest club in the country, in a quarter-final with the winner going to Wembley in the semis. It’s going to be brilliant.”
The Hammers will host the Red Devils in April following a dramatic 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, when Dimitri Payet’s wondrous free-kick was cancelled out by Anthony Martial’s volley with just seven minutes remaining.
West Ham had chances throughout, with Emmanuel Emenike, Andy Carroll and Michail Antonio all going close, while Manchester United were thwarted by a series of heroic blocks and clearances that kept Darren Randolph largely redundant.
When the equaliser did come, it was marked by controversy as the Ireland goalkeeper appeared to be blocked off by Bastian Schweinsteiger as he tried to keep out Martial’s shot.
While admitting to being slightly disappointed not to see his side go through to the last four at Wembley, Bilic is confident the Claret and Blue Army can help them get the job done second time around.
“Dimi has it in him – we all know this,” the boss began. “He’s got that kind of magic but before he took it I thought it was quite far out so it’s got to be perfect, and it was perfect!
“There was still a long way to go when Dimitri scored and we knew that they were going to take risks and make situations to put pressure on us.
“We played a really good game of football, and it’s hard to play at Old Trafford, but if you ask what we should have done after the goal because they were very open and risking things, I would have said I was expecting us to create from these situations two or three clear-cut chances, which we didn’t do. The last pass, we failed to make and then we conceded a goal.
“OK, the atmosphere in the dressing room was very silent. I said to the guys it’s nice on the one hand to feel like that, because that shows me that we were feeling confident despite being totally on the ground and we are moving in the right direction.
“On the other hand, we are in the game and we play the replay at home, which is a big advantage for us.”
Bilic admitted his players were feeling low at the final whistle, but said that being frustrated by a draw at Old Trafford is a measure of how far his squad has come this season.
“We could have been one goal up at half-time, and they also had a few situations where we made brilliant blocks and all that, but in the game we played a good game of football and we are very confident that we can win the replay.”
That confidence will be boosted further by the home crowd, who will surely mark the final FA Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground with an atmosphere akin to that which welcomed Liverpool in the fourth-round replay in February.
That match was settled by Angelo Ogbonna’s late header, and Bilic would love to see West Ham beat another of English football’s most-famous clubs on home turf in similarly exciting fashion.
“We thought the last one against Liverpool was going to be the last FA Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground and the atmosphere was special, and I can’t imagine a better one because it was a replay against Liverpool and we scored a goal in the last minute with a great header from Angelo.
“Now this one is like Manchester United, the biggest club in the country, in a quarter-final with the winner going to Wembley in the semis. It’s going to be brilliant.”