Daily WHUFC News - 12th December 2016

Hammers show desire with Anfield point
WHUFC.com

Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United

52 years. 52 years the Hammers waited for three points on the Red half of
Merseyside. At one point on Sunday, it looked as though it would be two
victories there in 451 days. As when Dimitri Payet equalised with a
trademark free-kick and Michail Antonio poked home – not with his head – to
lead, it was time to dream for the east Londoners packed into Anfield during
a superb first half performance. Four games unbeaten against the Reds last
season, the Hammers put themselves in prime position to make it five in
total. Liverpool, looking the part in 2016/17 under the guidance of
charismatic boss Jurgen Klopp, had other ideas. Hopes dashed through Divock
Origi's equaliser, but not everything lost for West Ham; a crucial point
picked up at what has not been a happy hunting ground over the years.
For all the delight the first half provided the away end filled with almost
3,000 happy Hammers, the clash started in the worst possible fashion for
Slaven Bilic's men. Sadio Mane and Divock Origi combined with frightening
pace before the former found Lallana inside the box, who finished past
Darren Randolph with aplomb on the turn after just five minutes. Time for
West Ham to step up. And step up they did. Peppering Loris Karius' goal with
attempts, the visitors began to turn it on as they had here last season.
First Manuel Lanzini went close on the volley, before Antonio was denied a
quick equaliser on eight minutes. Still behind, inspiration was needed. And
as the football world knows by now, nothing provides the Hammers with more
inspiration than a free-kick within shooting distance. There's only one man
for the job. A pat on the back for the superb Pedro Obiang, drawing the foul
from Lallana, and an opportunity for Payet to draw West Ham level.
Predictably, he did just that. Whip, precision, pace; Karius' dive
despairing, the Frenchman's celebration trademark. Cresswell, back in his
hometown, was next to try from range, before Roberto Firmino dragged one
wide for the hosts. Six minutes from half time stalemate at Anfield;
encouraging, but not satisfying enough for West Ham. Seemingly from nowhere,
excitement was about to transform into ecstasy behind the goal. Back in the
starting XI, Havard Nordtveit provided the assist, clipping a long ball over
the top of the Reds' defence into the path of Antonio – with the help of
Jordan Henderson's head – who coolly slotted home.

No win here in 52 years – surely it couldn't be London buses for the
Hammers? The hosts were sure to cast doubt on that within three minutes of
the restart, however. Disappointment and frustration for BIlic's side –
though for nobody more than Darren Randolph – as Origi tapped in the
Irishman's spilled catch.
If he wanted a chance to atone for his error, Randolph couldn't have hoped
for much better with 20 minutes remaining. World class, no two words better
describing the 29-year-old's save from Henderson's perfectly-placed strike.
Backs to the wall. Wijnaldum twice went close, but the visitors stood
strong, Nordtveit in particular throwing himself at everything that came his
way. Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang, Michail Antonio; the trio having never
lost against Liverpool were not about to throw this away now. Desire,
passion and commitment; all were present in abundance. Liverpool left
frustrated, West Ham returning to the capital with something to show for
their efforts as the Premier League clash finished 2-2.

Liverpool: Karius, Clyne, Wijnaldum, Lovren (Klaven 46), Milner, Firmino,
Henderson, Mane, Lallana, Origi, Matip.
Subs not used: Mignolet, Moreno, Lucas, Ejaria, Woodburn, Alexander-Arnold.
Goals: Lallana 5, Origi 48
Bookings: Firmino 53, Mane 76

West Ham United: Randolph, Nordtveit, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Obiang,
Lanzini (Fernandes 68), Noble, Antonio, Ayew (Carroll 62), Payet.
Subs not used: Adrian, Fletcher, Quina, Browne, Pike.
Goals: Payet 27, Antonio 39

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Antonio – We showed our character
WHUFC.com

Michail Antonio said that the Hammers showed their grit, determination and
character with a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield
The Hammers' top scorer grabbed the visitors' second goal to give them the
lead on Merseyside
Bilic's men were forced to battle hard after Divock Origi's equaliser

Determination, grit and character; Michail Antonio believes the Hammers
showed all three qualities in abundance at Anfield as his side picked up a
point in a 2-2 draw. Top scorer Antonio grabbed West Ham's second on
Merseyside, poking past goalkeeper Loris Karius to give the visitors the
lead after Dimitri Payet had beautifully cancelled out Adam Lallana's opener
with a free-kick. After Divock Origi levelled things up again three minutes
into the second period, Slaven Bilic's side were forced to battle hard to
earn their share of the spoils, something Antonio was proud of on Sunday. He
said: "We showed that we've got determination, grit and we showed what
happens in the past doesn't affect us and we can move on. It's a great point
away. "We just want to keep pushing on and build on this now. We need to
keep moving, building and in the week hopefully get the three points and
distance ourselves from the bottom three. "It's a massive show of character.
It shows that we can do it, it shows that we've got the players to do it and
now we just have to do it."

The 26-year-old's seventh of the season – the first not with his head – came
in the 39th minute as he raced clear and left Karius with no chance after
Havard Nordtveit's long ball. And the midfielder, being deployed as the most
advanced Hammer for much of the first half, showed his delight as he
performed one of his much-loved celebrations. "It was the running man
celebration today," he explained. "I was sticking with the nineties theme!
"I was thinking about heading it as I was going through! No, it had a nice
bounce and I could get one with my feet. I take them as they come. "I got
one with my feet and hopefully I can keep doing it. The point is massive for
us. "It's one of those things where we're playing week in, week out to move
forward and get further away from the situation we're in now."

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Bilic takes pride in Liverpool draw
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic happy with 2-2 Premier League draw at Liverpool
Hammers fell behind, led, were pegged back and held on to secure a point
Manager wants his team to build on result in home games with Burnley and
Hull

Slaven Bilic hailed West Ham United's resilience and togetherness in
securing a deserved 2-2 Premier League draw at Liverpool. The Hammers went
to Anfield without eleven senior players and on the back of a 5-1 home
defeat by Arsenal, and their confidence took a further dent when Adam
Lallana slotted the Reds into a fourth-minute lead. However, a trademark
Dimitri Payet free-kick and Michail Antonio's opportunistic strike had
Bilic's side in front by half-time. Divock Origi took advantage of a Darren
Randolph error to level three minutes into the second half, but the Hammers
produced a fine rearguard action to hold on and take a very hard-earned
point back to east London. "The players deserve a lot of credit, of course,"
said the manager. "We conceded an early goal so it was a bad start to the
game for us, but after that in the first half we definitely showed a great
reaction and were good on the ball and created chances. "Of course we had to
defend, but I'm really happy with the way we reacted after the goal. "In the
second half we were expecting Liverpool to move forward, but I also expected
us to be better with the ball, which we weren't. However, we showed
compactness and resilience and we got a point, which was a real achievement
for us. "We lost 5-1 at home against Arsenal, then conceded an early goal
here and our confidence dropped even more, but as I said, we showed
character first of all, teamwork and togetherness and we got a really good
result."

Bilic was also supportive of his goalkeeper, who shrugged off his mistake to
make a truly world-class save to keep out Jordan Henderson's curling effort,
which was destined for the top corner. "That's the nature of their job," he
observed. "When they make a mistake like Randy did for the second one, it
can be difficult, but apart from that he was solid, he was really good and
made a couple of great saves, so I'm happy with him."

The challenge for West Ham now is to build on Sunday's draw by beating
newly-promoted Burnley and Hull City at London Stadium this coming week.
Both the Clarets and the Tigers secured their own impressive results at the
weekend – Burnley beating AFC Bournemouth and Hull drawing with Crystal
Palace – so Bilic knows the Hammers will not be able to take their
collective foot off the pedal. "We knew that after these four games we had a
couple of games at home against Burnley and against Hull, which we have to
win, basically," he concluded. "Hopefully we're going to win them and while
it isn't going to change our season, it will help us move up the table and
be in a much better situation. "They will be very hard games, of course,
where we have to show our quality first of all, and our togetherness and
everything. They will be difficult games, but I'm sure we're going to be
ready for Burnley."

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Pike confident of turnaround in form
WHUFC.com

Alex Pike is confident things will turn around for West Ham United PL2
The Hammers are winless in four matches
They host Swansea City at the Chigwell Construction Stadium (7pm) on Monday

Alex Pike says everyone involved with West Ham United PL2 is working hard to
improve their current form, which has seen them go winless in four matches.
The Hammers have endured a frustrating few weeks, losing consecutive league
matches and going winless since the end of October, but Pike is confidence a
turnaround is on the horizon. With just two games left before the Christmas
break, the 19-year-old understands the need for maximum points in their next
two fixtures. "The spirit is alright. These things happen like the first
team have found out this year, teams hit a bit of bad form. The two losses
aren't ideal but everyone has been working hard to rectify it," he said.
"When you've shown that you can do it, it's just a matter of getting back to
that form. Working hard on the training pitch means you can get the bad
things out of the way and hopefully this week we can bounce back and get a
win."

The Hammers entertain Premier League 2 leaders Swansea City on Monday
evening (7pm kick-off) with the aim of closing the gap on the league's
pacesetters.
Swansea have won five in a row in the league and visit the Chigwell
Construction Stadium in fine form, but Pike is confident the Hammers can
resurrect their own form and achieve a positive result. "Any game in this
league, you never know what to expect because players can push onto the
first team or they might have a cup game coming up," he added. "So you never
know but we've got to expect a hard game as we always do. Hopefully we can
live up to the challenge and do well.
"We've got a strong team at the moment and not too many injuries either. So
hopefully we can get two wins in the next two games and go into Christmas
and enjoy the break a little bit more. It's always better to go into the
break with wins."

West Ham United PL2's match with Swansea City kicks off at 7pm from Dagenham
and Redbridge's Chigwell Construction Stadium on Monday. Admission is free
for season ticket holders – otherwise, it's £5 for adults and £3 for
children.

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Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United
By Jamie Strickland
BBC Sport

Goals by Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio exposed Liverpool's defensive
frailties again as West Ham climbed out of the Premier League relegation
zone with a hard-fought draw at Anfield. After conceding four in last
weekend's loss at Bournemouth, Liverpool shipped two avoidable first-half
goals on their way to ceding more ground to Chelsea and Arsenal in the title
race. Adam Lallana's smart low finish had put Liverpool ahead inside five
minutes but the visitors were level before the half-hour when goalkeeper
Loris Karius - at fault for Bournemouth's winner a week ago - failed to deal
with Payet's saveable 25-yard free-kick. Karius was less culpable for West
Ham's second scored by Antonio, but it was a scruffy goal that did not
reflect well on a Liverpool backline that has now conceded 20 goals in 15
league games - the worst record among the teams in the top six. But errors
were not the sole preserve of the Liverpool defence, and a big mistake by
West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph, dropping a cross into the path of
Divock Origi, gifted Liverpool the equaliser.

Randolph made amends with a quite stunning late save to keep o ut Jordan
Henderson's equally sublime strike as West Ham held on for a point that sees
them climb to 17th. Until recently Liverpool's new goalkeeper had largely
gone under the radar since joining from manager Jurgen Klopp's former club
Mainz in the summer. After missing the start of the season with a broken
hand, Karius was installed as Klopp's number one at the end of September,
replacing Simon Mignolet.
The German had a relatively untroubled time of it in his first nine games,
although small mistakes were in evidence - but nothing as high-profile as
the injury-time spill that allowed Nathan Ake to score Bournemouth's winner
last time out. And the pressure is sure to intensify on the 23-year-old
after his part in West Ham's opener, with Payet's free-kick nicely struck
but much too central to be considered unstoppable. West Ham's second goal
was also avoidable from Liverpool's perspective. Havard Nordtveit's hopeful
drilled pass from his own half struck the head of the retreating Henderson,
deflecting the ball high into the air and wrong-footing Reds centre-back
Joel Matip, allowing Antonio in. The West Ham man might not have had the
chance to score had Karius been further advanced in his area, but nothing
should be taken away from the finish, a cute poke with the outside of his
boot that just had enough force to cross the line.

Liverpool lack killer instinct

Liverpool are the top scorers in the Premier League with 37 goals in 15
games, so it is perhaps uncharitable to point the finger at their forward
line after this blip.
Yet for all their possession - 68% - they managed just three shots on target
in the whole match, with two of those coming from West Ham errors. The
visitors were guilty of snoozing for Liverpool's opener as Sadio Mane picked
up the ball in the middle of the park and made unchecked progress to the
left wing. His cross bounced through to Lallana, who had time to control and
finish under zero pressure from a static West Ham defence. Their second was
also a gift, Mane's cross inexplicably squirming out of Randolph's gloves
and landing perfectly for Origi to score for a fourth successive game in all
competitions - the first Liverpool player to do so since Daniel Sturridge in
February 2014. Mane was at the heart of everything good Liverpool did in
attack, playing a part in an intricate passing move that ended with a
blocked Henderson shot, and then twisting and turning on the edge of the
area to create an opening for Georginio Wijnaldum that flew wide.
Wijnaldum also failed to get enough curl on his shot when advancing on goal
down the left channel, while Roberto Firmino was guilty of missing the
target after good approach play. Indeed Liverpool's only other shot on
target was Henderson's superb long-distance strike, which was reminiscent of
his stunning winner against Chelsea in September but met on this occasion by
the right hand of the flying Randolph.

Man of the match - Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Liverpool will be frustrated at failing to pick up all three points but that
was in no way down to a lack of effort on the part of Sadio Mane, who
provided the assist for both goals and could have had a hand in more had his
team-mates been more clinical

Antonio finds his feet - match stats

Watford are the only side in the top half of the table to have conceded more
goals (26) than Liverpool (20).
West Ham have scored five goals in their past two league games at Anfield -
as many as they did in their previous 20.
Michail Antonio scored his seventh Premier League goal of the season, but
his first that wasn't a header. His last non-headed goal was at Stoke on the
last day of last season.
The Hammers have now lost a league-high 12 points from leading positions in
the Premier League this season.
'The goals could have been avoided' - reaction

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp: "We tried everything. One West Ham goal was a
free-kick and one was lucky. They were 2-1 up and we had some great
offensive situations and should have had more. We tried everything. We were
often in the box, a lot of situations. "It felt like the whole time we were
were in their box. We needed a bit of luck. A draw doesn't feel too good,
doesn't feel too bad. "The goals could have been avoided. For the first goal
- don't make the foul, don't lose the ball. The second goal was unlucky.
Joel Matip had a fantastic game and in this moment he couldn't clear the
ball. Loris Karius was surprised and it was too late.
"Should Karius have saved the free-kick? For this I have to see it again - I
only saw it in the match."

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic: "We showed a great reaction after they were one
up. In the first half we were very good. "I wasn't happy with the second
half because I expected us to be better on the ball. In the end, well done
for the players." On Darren Randolph's mistake: "It's the nature of their
job - when they make a mistake it is obvious. He made a mistake but after
and before he showed real quality and he was crucial for us in moments when
they had a chance or two."

What's next?

It's a quick turnaround for these clubs with a round of midweek Premier
League fixtures to come. Both teams are in back action at 19:45 GMT on
Wednesday as Liverpool travel to Middlesbrough and West Ham host Burnley.

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Now we must start winning, says Bilic
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 11th December 2016
By: Staff Writer

Slaven Bilic admitted that he was reasonably pleased with a point from
today's Premier League clash at Anfield, but says his team must start
winning again - beginning with their next outing against Burnley.

Having navigated a tricky November and early December, Bilic's side now face
a run of games against teams in the lower half of the table - namely Hull,
Burnley, Swansea and Leicester.

And despite today's point being enough to lift West Ham out fo the
relegation zone - which they dropped into last night following Swansea's
defeat of fellow strugglers Sunderland - Bilic says that his team must turn
one point into three when they face newly-promoted Burnley at the Olympic
Stadium this week.

"We knew that we had a couple of games at home after this that we had to
win, basically," Bilic said following his side's 2-2 draw at Anfield.

"Hopefully we're going to win them and it can change - not the season maybe,
but to help us climb the table. Maybe it won't be a comfortable situation
still, but much better than this.

"They're going to be hard games, of course, where we have to show our
quality and togetherness. It's going to be a difficult couple of matches and
I've got to make sure we're going to be ready for Burnley on Wednesday."

Referring to this afternoon's game, which the Hammers led 2-1 before a
Darren Randolph error allowed the hosts to snatch a point, Bilic insisted
that his players deserved to take the plaudits for a battling display.

"We conceded an early goal so it was a bad start to the game for us, but
after that in the first half we definitely showed a great reaction," he
surmised. "Of course we had to defend, but I'm really happy with the way we
reacted after the goal.

"In the second half we were expecting Liverpool to move forward, but I also
expected us to be better with the ball, which we weren't. However, we showed
compactness and resilience and we got a point, which was a real achievement
for us.

"We lost 5-1 at home against Arsenal, then conceded an early goal here and
our confidence dropped even more, but as I said, we showed character first
of all, teamwork and togetherness and we got a really good result."

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Slaven Bilic proud of West Ham fight in Liverpool draw
By Michael Hincks
Last Updated: 11/12/16 8:21pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic believes his West Ham side deserve a lot of credit after
recovering from 1-0 down to draw 2-2 with Liverpool. West Ham fell behind to
an early Adam Lallana goal at Anfield, but responded brilliantly and headed
into the break 2-1 ahead after goals from Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio.
While Divock Origi capitalised on a Darren Randolph error to make it 2-2
three minutes into the second half, the Hammers held on for a valuable
point. BIlic was delighted with his side's resilience in a draw which sees
them move out of the relegation zone and into 17th. "They deserve a lot of
credit. We conceded a very early goal but after that we showed a great
reaction," Bilic said. "We were good on the ball and I was really happy. In
the second half, you are expecting Liverpool to be better but I expected
more from us. "We showed compactness and resilience to get a point which is
a great achievement for us." For a club who has not won since October, West
Ham's draw will still be seen as a positive following 5-1 and 4-1 losses to
Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
Bilic admitted he feared the worst when his side conceded to Liverpool after
just five minutes. "When you lose 5-1 at home then concede an early goal at
Anfield, your confidence drops even more," Bilic added. "But we reacted
really well and showed character, teamwork and togetherness and at the end
we got a really good point." The Hammers manager went on to defend Randolph
despite his costly error before looking ahead to West Ham's next set of
fixtures. Bilic's side face crucial home league matches against Burnley and
Hull before Christmas, with the Clarets visiting the London Stadium first on
Wednesday night. "We have to win and hopefully we will, and then it will
change - not the season, but it can help up move up the table," Bilic said.
"It's going to be very hard and we will have to show our quality - it will
be a difficult couple of games mentally but I'm sure we're going to be ready
for Burnley on Wednesday."

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Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United: Jurgen Klopp's men stumble
By Gerard Brand at Anfield
Last Updated: 11/12/16 7:54pm
SSN

Liverpool fell behind in the Premier League title race after being held to a
2-2 draw by West Ham at Anfield on Sunday. Liverpool took the lead early on
through Adam Lallana's neat strike, but Dimitri Payet's 25-yard free-kick
and Michail Antonio's finish had West Ham going into the break 2-1 up via
some questionable goalkeeping from Loris Karius on both occasions. Divock
Origi capitalised on Darren Randolph dropping a Sadio Mane cross to finish
from close range just after the break, but despite dominating the second
half in possession, Liverpool could not grab a winner. The result means
third-place Liverpool are six points behind leaders Chelsea and three behind
second-place Arsenal. West Ham are 17th, a point above the drop zone.
Lallana and Joel Matip both returned for Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp made two
changes from the side that lost at Bournemouth, with Emre Can missing out
through a knee injury.

West Ham made four changes as Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew, Antonio and
Havard Nordtveit were given the nod at Anfield following a 5-1 defeat by
Arsenal.
After a dramatic 4-3 defeat by Bournemouth last weekend, it initially looked
more simple for Liverpool this time out as they took the lead after five
minutes.
After getting down the left wing, Mane's centre found Lallana eight yards
out, and the midfielder stroked it into the bottom right corner past
Randolph. There were warning signs early on for Liverpool, as Antonio got in
behind Dejan Lovren and forced a save out of Karius, before West Ham
equalised on 27 minutes. Payet, who had not scored for West Ham since
October 1, curled a free-kick into the bottom left corner from 25 yards,
though there were question marks over the positioning of Karius, who also
got a palm to the effort. Anxiety grew in the Liverpool camp, and it was
soon 2-1 to West Ham in somewhat fortuitous fashion.

Matip was left flat-footed as Nordtveit's hopeful drilled ball forward
deflected off the head of Lovren, allowing Antonio to sneak in and poke the
ball past Karius, who was caught in between racing out and staying closer to
goal. Roberto Firmino then glanced a header wide as Liverpool reacted well
before the break, while Matip's looping header from a corner bounced off the
crossbar. They were back level just two minutes after the break through
Origi, who reacted well to finish into an empty net from a few yards out
after Randolph had failed to catch Mane's hopeful left-wing cross. Gini
Wijnaldum then fired wide from just inside the area a couple minutes later,
while at the other end Ayew's diving header went a few yards wide of the
left post. Jordan Henderson then lined one up from 30 yards out, forcing
Randolph into a fine fingertip save as the ball headed for the top corner,
as Liverpool dominated the second period. They could not find the winner,
however, as West Ham's defence stood firm despite having little possession
in the second half.

Player Ratings

West Ham: Randolph (5), Nordtveit (6), Reid (7), Ogbonna (6), Cresswell (6),
Noble (6), Obiang (7), Ayew (6), Lanzini (6), Payet (7), Antonio (8)
Subs: Carroll (6), Fernandes (6)

Liverpool: Karius (4), Clyne (6), Lovren (5), Matip (4), Milner (6),
Henderson (6), Wijnaldum (8), Lallana (8), Mane (7), Origi (7), Firmino (6)
Subs: Klavan (6)

Man of the match: Michail Antonio

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Slaven Bilic sends prayers to Turkey after Besiktas explosions
By Andy Charles
Last Updated: 11/12/16 8:39pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic dedicated West Ham's point against Liverpool to the people of
Turkey after the terror attack outside Besiktas' stadium on Saturday. Bilic
spent two seasons as manager of the Super Lig team before leaving them in
the summer of 2015 to make the move to the Premier League with the Hammers.
He had an emotional reaction after the 2-2 draw at Anfield when asked about
the explosions outside the Vodafone Arena, which claimed the lives of 38
people and left more than 150 being treated in hospital. Many of the dead
were reported to have been riot police who were still in the area around the
stadium nearly two hours after Besiktas had beaten Bursaspor 2-1. "I would
like to dedicate these points to people in Turkey because we were there for
two years, me and my staff, and they are following us big time," Bilic said.
"I feel for them, my prayers are for them, it's unbelievable what happened
there. I was all around the world, working or on holiday, and they are maybe
the best people I ever met. "So it's very sad what's happening in one of the
best cities and one of the best countries...not because of the nature of the
country but because of the people. "They are so friendly, so good, so warm
and everything, that it's basically tearing me apart what's happening there.
Big condolences for the families of the victims."

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West Ham's refusal to buckle after soft Liverpool opener follows Arsenal
hammering delights Slaven Bilic
Team battered at home by one title contender last weekend gifted another a
fifth-minute goal at Anfield but hit back to lead on their way to a valuable
point
BYDAVID ANDERSON
20:57, 11 DEC 2016UPDATED20:57, 11 DEC 2016
The Mirror

Slaven Bilic managed to out-Klopp Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. It takes some
doing to be more animated than the hyperactive Liverpool boss. But West Ham
counterpart Bilic was during Sunday's 2-2 draw . He prowled his technical
area, kicking and heading every ball and appealing every decision. In the
few moments he was still, he stood in his familiar pose, bent over with his
hands on his thighs, watching the action intently. The passionate Bilic is
clearly still up for the fight in the face of the Hammers' chastening start
to the season. And he was heartened by his side's positive display, if not
their defending, as he continued his remarkable record against Liverpool.
The Croat now has three wins and two draws against the Reds with West Ham
boss —in addition to a Europa League success when his Besiktas side met the
Merseysiders in 2015. West Ham are out of the bottom three after being
pushed in by Saturday's results, and Bilic was delighted — especially after
they gave away a soft early goal. "Definitely, I think we showed character,"
he said. "After we lost our last game 5-1 to Arsenal and after our start,
which couldn't be worse, we showed a great reaction, particularly in the
first half "I'm very pleased. I'm very pleased with the character in the
first half in particular. It's a really good point for us before a crucial
week for us." Bilic defended Darren Randolph for his howler, which gifted
Divock Origi Liverpool's second goal, and highlighted his fantastic
fingertip save to deny Jordan Henderson once it was 2-2. He said: "That's
the nature of the job for a goalkeeper and he made a mistake for the second
goal, but before that, and after that, he showed great ability." The bomb
attack outside the ground of his former club Besiktas put Bilic's troubles
at West Ham into perspective and he offered his condolences to the victims.
"It's tearing me apart what happened," he said. "I'm very sad about what
happened in one of the best cities in the world in one of the best
countries. My condolences go out to the families."

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Slaven Bilic dedicates West Ham point at Liverpool to victims of Besiktas
stadium bomb
Two separate explosions went off just outside of Besiktas' stadium just 90
minutes after a match on Saturday night and Bilic has paid tribute
BYAARON FLANAGAN
20:10, 11 DEC 2016UPDATED20:12, 11 DEC 2016
The Mirror

Slaven Bilic has dedicated West Ham's point from their draw at Liverpool to
the victims of the bomb attacks outside of his former club's stadium.
Terrorists killed 38 people and injured another 166 more in two bombings
outside of Besiktas' Vodafone Arena in Istanbul. Riot police were targeted
outside the stadium with a car bomb at around 10.20pm on Saturday night. A
second attack 45 seconds later saw a suicide bomber blow themselves up in
Macka Park just across from the stadium. The blasts took place just 90
minutes after Besiktas faced off against Bursaspor, but no fans were thought
to have been injured. Bilic spoke with emotion about the attacks after West
Ham came from behind to secure a valuable 2-2 draw at Liverpool in the
Premier League on Sunday. The Croatian boss took charge of Besiktas between
2013 and 2015 before moving to the Premier League to take charge of the
Hammers. "I would like to dedicate these points to people in Turkey because
we were there for two years, me and my staff, and they are following us big
time. "I feel for them, my prayers are for them, it's unbelievable what
happened there. I was all around the world, working or on holiday, and they
are maybe the best people I ever met. So it's very sad what's happening in
one of the best cities and one of the best countries...not because of the
nature of the country but because of the people. "They are so friendly, so
good, so warm and everything, that it's basically tearing me apart what's
happening there. Big condolences for the families of the victims."

Besiktas adorned the outside of the stadium with Turkish flags on Sunday,
which was a national day of mourning, and posted a message of defiance on
its Twitter feed. It read: "After yesterday's inhumane attacks, £Besiktas
Vodafone Arena is decorated w/ Turkish flags today. Terrorism will not
achieve its goals here!"
The club have offered condolences to the families of two club employees who
were among the deceased - Vefa Karakurdu, a security director at the stadium
and member of the club's congress, and Tunc Uncu who worked in their club
shop. A statement from Fikret Orman, chairman of Besiktas' board, added:
"We strongly condemn the terrorist bomb attack on our police officers during
their departure from the Vodafone Arena. "On behalf of Besiktas I wish the
deceased mercy from Allah. I offer my condolences to the families and I wish
a swift recovery to those injured."
West Ham went behind to an Adam Lallana strike inside of the first five
minutes of the game at Anfield. But Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio hit
back to give the Hammers the lead before the break. Divock Origi levelled
the game back up shortly after the interval and West Ham were able to hang
on to earn a valuable point to see them move out of the drop zone.

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