West Ham boss Slaven Bilic on Pep Guardiola's TV interview - 'It's hard to stay cool after a match'

Welcome tonic: The return of Sergio Aguero can help to restore Pep Guardiola’s inner calm
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Slaven Bilic6 January 2017

Our FA Cup match against Manchester City tonight is a game of firsts. It is the first FA Cup tie to be played in the London Stadium, which is important enough for us, but also it is the first time that Pep Guardiola has managed a team in this most celebrated of cup competitions.

Yes, I saw Pep’s TV interview after they played Burnley and, no, he didn’t look happy, even though his team had won.

It’s not always easy to be cool and composed straight after a match. On Monday night, after we played Manchester United and in view of what happened in that match, it was difficult for me to control my emotions — but that is what you have to try and do.

The Christmas schedule is demanding on the players first and foremost, but it is also draining for the managers. The same number of points are at stake in all these games which come close together and every manager, Pep, myself, all of us, need the points — but for different reasons, perhaps to try to be champions, to qualify for Europe, to be safe in mid-table or to be out of the relegation zone.

It does drain you because you have to carefully manage your squad over this period, but it is all good experience and that is the way to look at it.

Myself, I feel good at the moment. I never want to be pleased with a defeat, but I was really happy with my players against Manchester United. They showed a lot of commitment and energy, even with 10 men and despite a demanding game against Leicester two days earlier. The main thing is we came out of these games with no casualties — and that is so important.

When we played tonight’s opponents, Manchester City, at the end of August, they looked really good and I thought it would take an exceptional team to finish above them.

That may still be the case, of course, but since then — and judging them by their criteria — they have suffered a dip.

Sergio Aguero should be in their team tonight but because of suspensions he has missed seven matches and City, even with their squad, have missed his goals.

Now they find themselves seven points off the top of the table and although that is not a great number at this stage of the season, it is not where they want to be. So this game tonight, even though it is in the cup, looks very important for them as well.

Pep is a top, top manager and will have known what to expect when he came here to the Premier League, but from my experience I would say you only really find out when you get here. You may think, “I won’t be caught out because I know what to expect and I know I’m capable of managing whatever comes my way” — and then it hits you.

Because of the movement of players and managers these days, the contrast between working in different countries has become less and less, but the league has that special identity of the English game, particularly when it comes down to intensity, physicality and pace of every team — and I do mean every team. In addition to that, every team is skilful enough to hurt you and have its moments.

To be fair this season, the top six are playing in a league of their own already, but even so, most of the games are very difficult. As for tonight I am looking forward to this match. It is huge for both teams. To be honest, we have had a few tough draws in the cups this season, with Chelsea and Manchester United in the EFL Cup, followed by City in the FA Cup, but that is the way it is. We are at home and if we play with the quality and intensity we demonstrated for an hour against Manchester United with 10 men, then we have a chance. The good thing then is that, after this match, we have enough time to recover, rest and give the players some time off.

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