Slaven Bilic has said that West Ham United should worship their status as surprise contenders for a place in the top four and believes his team can cope with the pressure of challenging for Champions League qualification.
West Ham will go fourth for at least 24 hours if they complete their first league double over Chelsea since the 2002-03 season by winning at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. However Bilic, who confirmed his interest in signing Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Havard Nordtveit on a free transfer, is relaxed about the prospect of an intense run-in.
“It is just a football game,” Bilic said. “Psychologically it is just a football game, what we have played before. Twenty-ninth round against Chelsea or whatever. It is just a three-point game and we don’t feel that kind of pressure. But it is definitely better to be in this situation than to be in the relegation battle or to be in the middle of the table, secure but without those positives. This is a situation we should worship. We should be in this situation every year.”
Although West Ham have not won at Chelsea since 2002, a run of two defeats in their past 16 league matches has lifted Bilic’s side into fifth place. They are three points behind Arsenal, who sit third, and two behind Manchester City, who host sixth-placed Manchester United on Sunday.
What West Ham lack is the knowhow of the teams around them. Yet Bilic, whose team will earn an FA Cup semi-final against Everton if they win their quarter-final replay against United at Upton Park next month, is not concerned.
“We are not talking about it, we are just approaching it. We don’t put the Premier League table in our canteen or restaurant – what if they win, what if they draw, what if this. It is routine business, we are training, we have a game on Saturday and after that we have the international break. The problem would be if we are down – 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th – they are thinking about it. That is the chip on the shoulder, that is the pressure, that is the burden. This is a bonus, this is great.”
