Andre Ayew Reveals How Slaven Bilic Orchestrated Inspirational Comeback Over Spurs

Andre Ayew insists Slaven Bilic's half-time team talk revitalised and inspired West Ham to go on and complete their sensational 3-2 comeback over Tottenham at Wembley in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

The Croatian manager has been through turbulent times lately, with many tipping him to lose his tenure at West Ham this month. The 2-0 score at half time didn't help his cause either and things were looking all too familiar for Bilic.

After the break however, the Hammers came out a different side. Seemingly revitalised, they rushed and harried their way to a breakthrough, as Ayew netted twice past Michel Vorm, before Angel Ogbonna nodded home the winning goal, taking West Ham into the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup.

Ayew said to Mirror: "We stayed confident. We were down, but the coach had the words", all but confirming Slaven Bilic's pivotal role in orchestrating such a memorable victory for the Hammers.

Bilic stated: "We knew if we scored early in the second half we’d have a chance. I want to congratulate the whole team, it’s a massive win."

“I told them at half-time we were not doing a lot wrong in the first half. I told them to calm down and use the ball better."

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"It can give us a lot of confidence, but only to do the same in training, to do the same on Friday, on Saturday.

"We have to use this opportunity to work hard. We have two days before Palace, it's not ideal but the win gives you energy, gives you freshness. Now tomorrow at the training ground nobody is going to feel tired from the impact of our result, from beating them."

"Other than Brighton, we improved a lot in the last six games," Bilic said. "This should be the standard for us in terms of closing down, in terms of sacrificing for the team. Some games we may lose, but I am quite positive we are improving."

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The high-flying Mauricio Pochettino was obviously confused and hurt by his Tottenham side's second half performance, claiming that Spurs "lost focus and showed a lack of aggression."

He continued: "We allowed them to come back into the match. In the first half it was under control. They have players that are always dangerous."