Superstar Rooney the perfect player –Zlatan
LONDON: Manager Slaven Bilic is not sweating over his future at West Ham United following the Premier League club’s poor start to the campaign and is confident he has the full support of the owners.
After finishing seventh last season, West Ham have struggled to recapture that form and are 17th in the table, a point above the relegation zone, having won only three times in 12 games.
“There is no question, I am happy in my job. I speak to the owners, mostly to Mr (David) Sullivan, after every game and sometimes in between games if there is something that needs to be talked about,” Bilic said yesterday.
West Ham’s problems have extended off the field as well as they struggle to adjust to their new home ground, London Stadium.
“I feel the support. As I’ve told you many times, I’m concentrating on the next game and that’s basically it.
“I’m not fearful. There is pressure, of course, because at the moment we are not delivering.” Bilic added.
“We don’t have enough points to feel happy but I’m seeing the improvement. It’s still very tight. It’s early days, but we are in that position and the table does not lie.”
West Ham travel to sixth-placed Manchester United tomorrow.
Meanwhile, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has leapt to the defence of club mate Wayne Rooney, saying the United captain is a “perfect” player who does not get enough respect in England.
Rooney has been under the spotlight since apologising after being pictured last week socialising late at night while he was on international duty as England captain.
“I think when you’re a person like that, when you’re famous like that, people are interested, they want to know everything. I don’t know what has happened,” Ibrahimovic told British media.
“I didn’t even ask him because it’s not important for me and I’m 100 percent sure the media doesn’t know what really happened. I think we should appreciate him for the player he is, what he did.
“I don’t see many players from England who have had the same career as him. I feel sorry about the situation because we should give him more respect.”
Rooney put in an inspired perfor mance in Thursday night’s 4-0 Europa League victory over Feyenoord, scoring United’s firsthalf opener from an Ibrahimovic through-ball to become the club’s all-time leading scorer in Europe with 39.
The goal also put him just one behind Bobby Charlton’s overall club record of 249.
“As a person he’s fantastic, I have the luck to get to know the person.
“He’s the perfect player,” added Ibrahimovic.
“Everybody knows what he can do, what he did, what he has done. I’m happy for him for breaking the record and I will help him go one more.
“That I see as the real record.” – Reuters AT THE venue where Hlompho Kekana smashed his way into being nominated for Fifa’s Goal of the Year award, Banyana Banyana bulldozed their way into the semi-finals of the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWC).
Perhaps i t ’s a good thing the senior women’s national team will stay in this city that has been good to South Africans a bit longer.
Serene Limbe has the feel of being in a different country compared to the hustle and bustle of Yaounde, where hosts Cameroon are based.
Their presence means that all the matches played there involving them come with a lot of fanfare.
A decent number of fans, who had packed Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, would stay behind after Cameroon’s matches to cheer the other teams in Group A.
There was none of that yesterday here because, while Banyana took on Egypt, the Indomitable Lionesses squared off against Zimbabwe in Yaounde with kick-off at the same time.
A paltry crowd, with the far stand occupied mainly by soldiers, watched this crucial match that would decide who join Cameroon in the last four.
They got t heir money’s worth with Banyana finally scoring in this tournament.
Once they started to get ball in the net, they didn’t stop as if they were making up for the lack of goals in the other two matches.
Silindile Ngubane, in her first start in the tour nament, put on a show. The skilful midfielder was Banyana’s l ivewire, something they lacked in the loss to Cameroon and the goalless draw with Zimbabwe.
Ngubane created space for Andisiwe Mgcoyi and Jer maine Seoposenwe to exploit.