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stewie griffin 10:24 Fri Aug 21
Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

The bloke just oozes class



Two matches into my first Premier League season as a manager and already there have been highs, lows, a red card for our goalkeeper and now an injury to a player in training.

Mauro Zarate was hurt, more on that elsewhere in this column, and with Adrian now banned I must make two changes for Saturday’s game with Bournemouth.

This League is exactly as I expected; demanding, physical, very competitive but also very individual.

Every side is fighting for the ball, closing you down so, on the one hand, you need to work hard as a team but you also need individuals who can break that hold and win you games.

Whether it is Sergio Aguero, Philippe Coutinho, Dimitri Payet or Christian Benteke, you need this talent. That is why clubs want to buy these type of players for crazy money because if you don’t have one or more of them, you will struggle to create more chances than your opponents.

These special players are not only strikers or No10s who find the spaces — they can be central defenders, goalkeepers, holding midfielders or players who have a presence and inspire teams with their leadership.

After our opening win over Arsenal, we were very disappointed to lose to Leicester City last weekend.

I don’t like to look for excuses. We were beaten because of our performance in the first half.

When you are two goals down in the Premier League it is very difficult to recover — maybe once in 10 games you can do that but it’s very hard.

We did well for the first 10 minutes but I was very disappointed with the rest of the first half. Leicester were quicker to the second ball, they were more aggressive, had more confidence and awareness, and were more determined to win the ball.

They played very well. Okay, it was simple football but they were very productive and it’s been that way for them in the last 11 games, credit to them.

We had a good reaction in the second half but, basically, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be doing that from the start - especially at home in front of our own fans.

It is a minimum requirement to give everything in every Premier League match. This is a tough league and sometimes even that is not enough to win but the basic is to give 100 per cent, then at least you can make it hard for your opponent.

I wanted to say these things first but when you add to that the fact some crucial decisions went totally against us then the conclusion was clear.

On the decisions - and Adrian’s red card in particular - I won’t criticise the referee. I said after the match it was possible the challenge was a red-card offence. It was not deliberate or intentional but, still, it could be a red.

What really shocked me, though, was that it carries a three-match suspension - for that?

When I heard the ban I couldn’t believe it for a whole day but when I accepted it is the rule I suspected the appeal would not be in our favour because they would have had to change the regulation.

The rule is the problem. Adrian’s offence did not warrant that ban but the FA had to enforce it.

I don’t blame the referee - okay, I can argue that he could have given Jamie Vardy a red card as well for something definitely more deliberate than what Adrian did - but to lose him for three games? It should be one match, maximum.

My opinion is that every red card should be looked at objectively and individually. Adrian’s absence for that many games is a big blow for us and definitely we didn’t deserve that.

It’s a very important issue.




ZARATE/POYET

It is a pity that Mauro Zarate will not be included in the squad for the Bournemouth game. He has injured his hamstring in training. We don’t yet know how bad the injury is but it could be several weeks before he is fit again.

We are still trying hard to be active in the transfer market and we are looking for maybe two players but they have to be of the right quality.

There could also be one or two players leaving as well. One example is Diego Poyet, who has gone to MK Dons on loan. It’s a good move for him, he will play regularly in a good league and we wish him well. We will monitor him closely because he definitely has a good future.


BOURNEMOUTH

We meet Bournemouth on Saturday and they are another team who will feel aggrieved following the circumstances of their narrow defeat by Liverpool.

Just before the season all the managers attended a meeting where we were told about a change to the offside rule.

We watched clips of matches for 10 minutes - but then came Liverpool’s goal against Bournemouth, which was so obviously offside.

For me, the offside rule remains confusing. Once they originally decided to make new offside rules and opened a Pandora’s Box, that was it — too many ifs, too many buts, too many questions.

I watched Monday’s game carefully and, first of all, Bournemouth do the basics well; closing down, pressing — the things I talked about earlier in this column.

They are also good when they have the ball, they make a good transition, they were more aggressive in both their games this season, although they didn’t create a lot of chances.

It will be a hard game for us but we are at home, we are ready and we learned our lesson from our loss to Leicester.

Coffee 10:34 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

An intelligent man is our manager. Thanks, Stewie.

White Pony 10:36 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Glib, bland and fond of soundbites, but still 1,000,000% times less irritating than an Allardyce column.

1985 10:38 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Not a bad column but since he's been back in England I've not heard him mention once what his favourite crisps are, so the jury is still out for me.

Hermit Road 10:39 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Instead of blaming the players for the first half, maybe he should take responsibility for the team selection. I think most people would agree that it was the change in personnel at half time that was the big difference.

isolated hammer 10:41 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

I like reading what he has to say. I definitely feel that he knows exactly what he is doing. If he feels loaning players like Diego Poyet out will be for the good of the player and the club in the long term, then so be it. Re getting more players in, my only disappointment is we haven't bought another striker. With Zarate now injured, that is definitely top of the priority list. But again he says the player has to be the right player. Personally speaking, I would get Austin, knows the PL and would probably hit the ground running.

Mr Polite 10:47 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

How nice it is to read our managers comments without wanting the rip his head off and spit down the hole.


I agree his line up was wrong against Leicester and said as much before the game, but he is also spot on with what he says.

Keep dreaming 11:09 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Refreshing to hear words from a proper manager for once.
COYI

NDT 11:10 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

No way Austin will come after his comments back to Sullivan

i-Ron 11:13 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

I'm glad he's talking about lack of creativity!! My kind of guy.

Pancho 11:19 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

I've never been a hater of Big Sam but seeing Bilic in interviews recently you just can't be anything but impressed.

And saw Big Sam on that Merson Fantasy Football show.

What a conceited prick he really is.

i-Ron 11:24 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Did he mention the play off final was his biggest achievement?

dicksie3 11:24 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

i-Ron 11:13 Fri Aug 21

BRANDED 11:35 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Interesting comment by Nobes regarding at Arsenal they had nothing to lose and went for it, running on adrenaline but with Leicester they clearly acted in a different way.
Tippy tappy requires unbelievably fit players running around like cunts for 90 minutes.

Yeah, I bet that's a shock for some.

Coffee 11:43 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Pancho 11:19 Fri Aug 21

I also was never a hater of BFS, but couldn't help but be appalled by his dress sense when he appeared as a TV pundit during last Saturday's Premier League games. He wore a kind of brown/silver two tone suit, a brown/silver tie and a brown/silver shirt. An outfit that belonged in a circus rather than a TV studio.

Rossal 11:44 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Tactically he seems very switched on which is refreshing

Enough of the talk now though

Leicester & Bournemouth at home - 3 points is the minimum you'd expect. Time to deliver with Liverpool away next.

defjam 11:46 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

i-Ron 11:13 - You like your guys to lack creativity?

Pancho 11:49 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Ron - it was generally the undertone that all the players that thrived were due to him.

He mentioned WHU sparingly to be honest.

Downing in his top 11 ever. Surprising.

, 7:10 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

I don't remember anyone on here suggesting before the game last week that Oxford be dropped. So if playing him was a mistake it was not one that most of us spotted.

Having made the mistake it was rectified but we were too far behind to draw leve with a really good Leicester team.

Fifth Column 7:15 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

I thought it was a mistake picking Oxford for the Arsenal game. I was wrong.

Before the match last week I said to my dad before the match started that I thought he would have picked Obiang as Oxford needs to be protected and not played every week. I thought playing him was a mistake. Turned out I was right about that.

But the bigger problem was shit defending around him than his own performance.

NEVER SAY DIE 8:00 Fri Aug 21
Re: Slaven Bilic: I will not accept the lack of aggression, confidence and drive....

Bilic is superb, I just hope he can get the response from the players he's looking for cos for me there's a few of them wont be able to rise to that challenge. One's career is already over here because of that.

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