For most West Ham fans under 30, Slaven Bilic is going to be their favourite Hammers manager. His first season was full of the joy the club had been without in many years.
Unfortunately, we know how it all ended up, with Bilic failing to keep the momentum up and with some very suspect moves in the transfer market. But then this is West Ham, so those two things are to be expected. However, for our final season at the Boleyn, Bilic was the one leading us towards the potential European road. And there were three key matches that for me, were his best in charge.
Quick disclaimer, whilst the final match at the Boleyn was probably the most significant during the time, I don’t know if that can count as his special day. The whole club was up for it, and the players bullied themselves back to win that 3-2. But out of his 109 matches in charge of the Hammers, there are others to celebrate his approach to the game, and hopefully, these bring back some fond memories for you Hammers.
Opening Day: Arsenal 0 – 2 West Ham
If you’ve just taken over management of a club that you used to play at, you’ve just been knocked out of Europe at the qualifying stages and now your opening game of the Premier League is away at Arsenal, you might be tempted to shut up shop. You know, try and play 5 at the back and nick it on a set-piece. Well, that didn’t account for the guts of Slaven Bilic.
Handing 16-year-old Reece Oxford a first Premier League start and giving him the simple task of keeping the (then) prolific creator Mesut Ozil quiet whilst going with two strikers in the form of Mauro Zarate and Diafra Sakho to keep the Arsenal defence on their toes. It also helped that it signalled a first Premier League start for a somewhat unknown Dimitri Payet. Basically, everyone looked at this lineup and thought, fair play, we’re giving it a go, but we know Arsenal will take it home in the end.
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But for 90 minutes, West Ham proved everyone wrong. Whilst Arsenal did have their chances, Spanish stopper Adrian kept them at bay without the need for much of the spectacular. And at the other end, the Irons capitalised on two goalkeeping errors from the usually reliable Petr Cech to take themselves to an unexpected 2-0 victory at the Emirates. Cheick Kouyate beat the Czech keeper to a Payet freekick, before a long-range effort from Zarate caught Cech out at his near post to take the Hammers two clear.
Whilst the roundup sounds like a smash and grab, the game was indicative of what Bilic had to bring. Here was a perfect game to set up to defend, but he was there to play football. Oxford proved to be the perfect counter to Ozil, and Payet was given a free role to take on who he fancied. He regularly took it past Arsenal players with ease, sitting a few of their defence down at times, as you can see from these oddly edited highlights of the game. But for Bilic, it was a sign of the season that was to be, and what he could get out of this squad.
The Follow Up: Liverpool 0 – 3 West Ham
Despite winning the first match of the season 2-0 away at Arsenal, Bilic’s West Ham then lost the next two matches, both at home, to Leicester and Bournemouth. At that point no-one could predict the season the foxes would have, so there was some understandable disappointment around the club as we travelled up to Anfield. Especially since we hadn’t won there in the league since 1963. But Bilic wasn’t here for facts.
Bilic here set up to try and control the midfield and stop Liverpool utilising Coutinho and Firmino effectively. Kouyate and Noble sat in front of Pedro Obiang, with Payet and Manuel Lanzini playing as narrow wingers to support Sakho. The fullbacks then look to create the width as Lanzini and Payet drew defenders inside. And within 5 minutes, Cresswell had got outside to cross to Lanzini who opened the scoring. I mean, it’s a simple game when broken down like that, right? Well, Bilic thought so.
Liverpool was frustrated throughout the match, only able to get 2 shots on target the entire game, committing 17 fouls in the process. 2 of those fouls saw Phillipe Coutinho get a yellow card, meaning the whinging Brazilian had to watch the last 40 minutes of the game from the bench. And which player was it who twirled his way into the challenge to draw the foul? That man Payet.
Whilst Payet deserves a lot of credit for what went on during the season, Bilic was the one who freed him and set the rest of the team up to support the cause. This match was a wonderful example of that because although Payet shone, the real victory that day came from shutting the opposition down. And Bilic got the most out of different options up top throughout the year as well. Sakho had just had his one season of relative success in the Premier League, but here was used to harry and harass as a mobile striker. At his best, Bilic thought up and down the pitch to try and give his best players time and space to impact the game, and that really was on show here.\
The Hope: Blackburn 1 – 5 West Ham (FA Cup)
So with two apparent underdog matches up first, I think this match underlines the genuine hope and excitement that Bilic brought to West Ham in his first season. Whilst there was an outside chance of Champions League football on offer, what was beginning to feel like a possibility was the first silverware for the club. In the fourth round, we had beaten Liverpool 2-1 in a midweek replay at Upton Park thanks to an injury-time Angelo Ogbonna header (which was also my last game at the Boleyn), and with the tie away to Blackburn there was a sense we could get deep into the competition.
So with a 4-3-3 formation that had Michail Antonio lining up at right-back, West Ham was set up to attack. Something that came back to bite us when Blackburn took the lead after 20 minutes, despite it looking like a match the Hammers would be able to control. But Bilic, rather than trying to chop and change, showed faith in the setup and the players as they were. He could be seen on the sideline urging people to play smart with the ball and get it to feet. And without having to do much except for getting the side to believe in the setup, Slaven oversaw both the team and the fans begin to think this might be their year.
By half time, goals from Victor Moses and Payet had the Hammers up and the game looked ours to lose. When, 10 minutes after the restart, Blackburn went down to 10 men, the floodgates began to open. Payet was moving up and down the pitch with ease, creating chances and looking dangerous at every turn. A rare Emmanuel Emenike goal put us 3-1 up before some cynical defending from Kouyate took it to a 10 man apiece match. But here Payet created another goal for Emenike before racing half the pitch himself to slot past the keeper from the edge of the area to wrap up a complete performance and a place in the 6th round.
Bilic had his flaws as a manager, but he did know how to get the most from key players, and what he would have to do to control various parts of the pitch. Three different formations for the matches, and 3 strong wins. In his first season, he had ideas and trusted the ability of his players to play against the big guns, but he became more and more stuck in his ways as his tenure wore on. For me, these three games are a great encapsulation of his best parts, and why I will always remember his time at the club fondly.