West Ham boss Slaven Bilic on guard for ‘wounded lion’ Man United
The Red Devils, and manager Louis van Gaal, have come in for more criticism from fans and former players following their limp display in Thursday night’s Europa League tie at Liverpool.
Paul Scholes branded them a “shambles” and fellow BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand accused them of lacking fight following the 2-0 first-leg defeat.
West Ham sit a place above United in fifth in the Barclays Premier League and are full of confidence following back-to-back wins over Tottenham and Everton.
But Bilic knows Van Gaal’s side have bounced back from setbacks before this season and claims it would be “suicidal” for his team to take their hosts lightly.
“Thursday night is not a game that you can take as normal for Manchester United,” he said.
“It was Liverpool away, it was very intimidating, and it was one isolated game. Unfortunately we are expecting a better Manchester United than that.
“I watched (the criticism) and it’s not the first time, to be fair, but when you are manager of Manchester United you have to win every game, so it’s really hard for Van Gaal.
“They are like a wounded lion, they have a massive game against us. It’s going to be very difficult but are we confident.”
Bilic can welcome back defender Joey O’Brien and wingers Victor Moses and Enner Valencia from injury for the Old Trafford clash.
Meanwhile Chris Smalling knows Manchester United’s substandard display at Liverpool has made Europa League progress a “difficult job”.
The two-goal deficit gives United some hope of still reaching the quarter-finals, but Smalling knows the inability to eke out an away goal has made progress that bit tougher.
“No matter the result, it was never going to be over tonight, but I think we could have done with getting an away goal,” the defender said.
“We know we’ve got a difficult job on our hands.
“They had a lot of runners coming from midfield and we were defending a lot of the time.
“I think our wingers were having to defend a lot, so whenever we won the ball back we couldn’t really sustain it and keep it. In that first half, we sort of found it very difficult.”
United put in the kind of display that has frustrated supporters this term and ratcheted up the pressure on manager Van Gaal, managing a solitary shot on target at Anfield to the hosts’ eight.
Daniel Sturridge’s penalty and a second-half Roberto Firmino strike were the only efforts to beat in-form De Gea, and Smalling believes both goals were “pretty fortuitous”.
United were the lucky ones, though, as their below-par performance could have easily ended in a first-leg humbling — one which would have made the Old Trafford return little more than a dead rubber.
Smalling added: “It is now on us to rectify it next week in front of our own fans. I think the first goal is going to be crucial.
“I think night games have a different edge to them and I think our fans will be right behind us.
“It’s down to us to deliver and put on a better performance than we did tonight.”
United certainly need a reaction after a difficult few days, with the Liverpool loss following a defeat at West Brom that seriously dents their top-four aspirations.
Missing out on the Champions League for just the second time in 21 years now looks increasingly likely, especially after their Europa League chances narrowed, and increased the importance of a morale-boosting win in Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final with West Ham.
The Reds have not won the competition since 2004 and back-to-back defeats have heightened the occasion’s importance to Van Gaal’s side.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but (on Friday) we need to recover and turn our attentions to Sunday,” Smalling added.
“We haven’t got long until another game and we need to make sure we are as fresh as we can because it is another competition where we need to progress.
“We’re all disappointed, but knowing we’ve now got two home games in both of those competitions, it’s on us to take the game to West Ham and then move onto Liverpool.”
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