Bilic stands by his men but admits display was ‘naive’

Slaven Bilic will tell West Ham United’s owners today that his players remain confident and are trying, but naivety has been shown.

With the match against Crystal Palace key to the manager’s future, Bilic was on course for a precious victory until a dreadful mistake by Michail Antonio gifted the home team a late equaliser, prompting David Gold, West Ham’s co-owner, to bemoan a “disappointing result”.

Antonio opted against holding on to possession deep in injury-time and instead senselessly decided to cross. The delivery was poor and it allowed Palace to surge forward, creating panic and leading to Wilfried Zaha scoring the equaliser.

The result could have been worse for West Ham but for goalkeeper Joe Hart producing an outstanding display. Hart is one of the big-name signings who has been under scrutiny this season but he delivered here, leading Bilic to claim the goalkeeper is still England’s No1.

Bilic said: “The team is giving its best. The team has got a confidence. The team also show a lot of energy, spirit and togetherness after the game on Wednesday [defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup]. The negative thing is the naivety in the last seconds of the game. That is it.”

On the subject of his goalkeeper, Bilic added: “You are expecting that from Joe Hart. He is England’s No1 goalkeeper. The bigger you are, the more criticism you get. The only way he can keep the critics shut is by playing like this.”

Roy Hodgson, the Palace manager, knows Hart well from their England days together and pointed out he had never written the goalkeeper off.

Hodgson said: “Joe Hart played in almost every one of the 57 games I had with England. When he didn’t play, it was because we wanted to give someone else the chance to show what they could do.

“Joe had plenty to do and did it with great aplomb. And it must be nice for Gareth Southgate and England to know that they’ve still got a goalkeeper of his class.”

Two of West Ham’s other recruits during Bilic’s reign who have also been questioned at times this season were on the scoresheet in the first half. Javier Hernandez tucked in the first goal from 10 yards, before Andre Ayew produced a spectacular solo effort to give his team a 2-0 lead at the interval.

That was harsh on Palace, but they were back in the game when Angelo Ogbonna’s unwise challenge on Andros Townsend gave the home team a penalty, from which Luka Milivojevic scored. Palace then battled hard for the equaliser and they found it when Zaha eventually took advantage of Antonio’s error.

Hodgson said that Zaha’s goal was evidence of how the squad is developing since he took charge. “I’m not surprised players are still going strong in the 95th, 96th minute because I’ve seen this team get fitter and stronger in the last six weeks and we’ll keep working on it,” he added. There is a touch of the inebriated whisky-drinker about Liverpool Football Club.

One minute they are full of swagger, life tastes good and wherever you look someone is acting like they are your best friend or even one of the ‘family’. Then you get the severe mood swing, bonhomie becomes melancholy, they appear dishevelled and the wrong look leads to calls for an eviction.

No one masters extreme emotion like Liverpool; from staring into the abyss to stargazing, often on the same afternoon.

Immediately after securing his first Premier League home win since August – what became a routine win over Huddersfield – Jurgen Klopp was reminded how a year ago the same Liverpool team went top of the Premier League playing the most entertaining football in the country. There was talk of winning the title then.

At half-time here the same team (albeit with some notable, injured absentees) were being heckled to the tunnel, the doubters who became believers had turned doubters again. Mohamed Salah’s missed penalty fed the defeatism.

What followed in the second half demonstrated that, just as this side was not as good as it seemed a year ago, they are not as bad as some believe now. “We were ahead of schedule – that is clear,” said Klopp, noting the upcoming anniversary.

“Now we have to find consistency. It was clear after the really harsh criticism after the last game [a 4-1 loss to Tottenham] that you can’t go like this [clicks fingers] and say it was not that bad. It was bad. It was very important that we reacted.

“The atmosphere was not too optimistic at half-time so to come out and do what we did was really nice.”

It did not take much for attacking dynamism to be restored, the 15 minutes at the start of the second half proving that even without Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana, Liverpool possess the talent to dismantle most visitors.

The ball certainly bounced in Liverpool’s favour when Huddersfield’s Tommy Smith diverted it in the direction of Daniel Sturridge for the 50th-minute opener.

Roberto Firmino’s header ensured the game was over eight minutes later before Georginio Wijnaldum completed the victory.

As Klopp admitted: “At this moment it feels good: clean sheet, scored three, reacting to a missed penalty. I’m officially happy today.”