Bil blames four over late fiasco
REAL MADRID’S Wembley stuffing was greeted with dismay and open derision in the Spanish media.
Madrid-based Marca (right), Spain’s biggest-selling sports daily, screamed: “Sound all the alarms”.
El Pais said Madrid had been left looking “groggy” and “laboured” by Spurs, while the lead headline from AS – another paper based in the capital – read: “Nightmare in Wembley”. The Catalan-based newspaper Sport was scathing. Their headline was “Aimless” oover a piece that claimed: “Madrid are in total crisis.”
But Real captain Sergio Ramos hit back: “We understand fans could get disillusioned after recent results, but Real Madrid always fight back and if anyone thinks that we’re done for, we’ll put them right.” SLAVEN BILIC has revealed he held individual talks with four of his West Ham players after last weekend’s late-goal shocker at Crystal Palace.
Michail Antonio’s decision not to take the ball to the corner in the dying minutes allowed Palace to grab a comeback equaliser after the Hammers led 2-1.
Antonio, injured for tomorrow’s game against Liverpool, has since been widely vilified, but Bilic said: “It wasn’t only him. Three or four other players – if we are being nice about it – were too optimistic.
“Antonio made a bad decision, but he wouldn’t have crossed the ball if three or four players weren’t in the box.
“I told them we had to be in a position where, if Antonio made a mistake, we could stop them having other chances to attack.”
As well as missing Antonio, West Ham entertain Liverpool without Pablo Zabaleta, who is suspended, as well as Sam Byram, Jose Fonte and James Collins, who are all injured.
“We have four or five injuries and one suspension,” said Bilic.
“But Winston Reid and Aaron Cresswell are now both fit and could play.”