West Ham United beat Swansea City 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has told Football.London that his side deserved to be booed at half time during Saturday’s game against Swansea City.
The Hammers went into the game needing a victory having lost 3-2 at home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, but fans were growing restless.
Slaven Bilic’s men struggled to break Swansea down in the first half, and with the game at 0-0 as the teams went into the break, West Ham fans voiced their frustration with a chorus of boos.
Diafra Sakho (2nd R) of West Ham United celebrates scoring against Swansea City
West Ham continued to press for the winner, and after Andy Carroll hit the crossbar, Diafra Sakho snatched the winner by converting Arthur Masuaku’s 90th minute cross.
Bilic needed a win by any means, and whilst he will be delighted with the three points, fans may still not be appeased, as the pressure remains on the West Ham boss.
After the final whistle, Bilic was asked about the crowd booing at half time, and the Croatian responded by telling Football.London that he felt his team got exactly what they warranted, repeatedly using the word ‘deserved’ when quizzed about the booing.
Bilic was far from happy with a ‘poor’ performance, but he was happy with the impact made by his substitutes, as Masuaku and Sakho combined for the winning goal to eventually send fans home happy.
“It doesn’t matter. The crowd was…we deserved to be booed at half-time. Yes,” said Bilic. “Definitely. I watched Swansea against Watford last week and they were deservedly booed at half-time because they were losing and did not play well. It is quite common because the fans want the best for the club. They are very demanding and we didn’t play good in the first half. We were poor.”
“It wasn’t good enough, but all the substitutions, it is all about the decisions you have to make and in those moments if you’re not happy with the result and you believe in something then you shouldn’t be worried about booing,” he added.
West Ham now head into the international break with seven points from seven games, and immediately face two huge games upon their return; away to Burnley and at home to Brighton.
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