Koeman critical of Everton, Bilic lauds Irons ‘lions’
Ronald Koeman was far from happy with his Everton side after a below-par performance in a 0-0 draw at West Ham.
With the share of the spoils, the point takes Everton above Arsenal into sixth-place but the Gunners have three games in-hand over their Merseyside rivals. Meanwhile, West Ham edged closer to safety as they remain in 13th place, seven off the drop zone.
Toffees boss Koeman bemoaned a display that lacked intensity.
He told the BBC: “It was really far from what we are used to, from the first minute to the last second.
“We didn’t get the intensity. It was a poor performance with a lot of negatives.
“One positive is we kept a clean sheet. We like to perform to a certain level and it was far from that.
“I wasn’t happy at half-time so we tried to do something. I couldn’t change four, five, six or seven. But I changed two to give a signal to the team.
“We need wins now to get a chance of sixth or fifth place.”
In contrast, West Ham counterpart Slaven Bilic was delighted with the effort of his men.
“I am really pleased with the performance,” he told the BBC. “I could not ask anymore from my players.
“In terms of effort, dedication and determination they get top marks. If any team deserved three points it was us.
“To limit them to one chance requires a lot of hard work. The only bit of negativity is that I felt at moments we lacked some quality in our decision making. We played like 11 lions, one for each other.
“We talk about the magic number of 40, I think we might need a few more points, so we are not going into the last game.”