West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has praised the character of his players after the 3-1 away win against Southampton at the weekend.
The Croatian feels that the players could have easily used the loss of Dimitri Payet to Marseille in the January transfer window as an excuse for poor performances but he feels the players have taken responsibility for their own form in recent games. He told the club’s official website:
“It is the team who have responded to that. We lost a great player, but these things happen in football. The team have reacted in the best possible way. The boys have shown in those difficult situations that we aren’t going to sink, we’re not going to crumble. We had to take more responsibility as an individual and as a team, and that’s happened.”
The Hammers now lie in 9th place in the Premier League table with 31 points from 24 matches, well clear of the relegation zone where they found themselves only a few months ago.
The club’s form has still been quite patchy despite six wins in their last nine league games. A heavy defeat at home to Manchester City, and another loss at the London Stadium against Manchester United last month means there is still room for improvement, and Bilic will be hoping that striker Andy Carroll stays fit to continue his rich vein of form in front of goal.
