Slaven Bilic has rejected suggestions Manchester United are boring. “They’re different from the Alex Ferguson era where they were quicker, more electric and bombarding the box,” said Bilic, whose West Ham side visit Old Trafford on Saturday. But he denied that made Louis van Gaal’s team dull and pointed to the effectiveness of an approach which is delivering narrow victories.

“They are winning and not conceding goals,” West Ham’s manager said. “Somebody said they are boring but I am not sure why people are saying this. They are keeping the ball, they are not a team who give you the ball and defend – you can say that this kind of football is sometimes boring. However, they have possession of the ball, they are controlling the game and they are trying to win every game.

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“You can say that United are different from before, especially at home where opponents are now defending with numbers behind the ball, very compact and very deeply. With this being the case, United cannot play more direct or at a higher tempo because for this you need gaps and space behind or in between the lines of the opponent which are difficult to find. We can call it controlled football, we can call it patient football but so far it is very effective because they are in a good position in the league.”

Bilic said it was possible to give players freedom while adopting a patient style. “If you are playing this controlled football against a team that is defending by doubling or tripling up on players then it comes down to a player, especially up front or out wide, to display some kind of magic.”

Bilic agrees with Van Gaal over the importance of scoring the first goal when playing the way United do. “After that first goal there is an opportunity to exploit the space in behind teams or in between the lines as the opponent pushes up higher and takes more risks,” he said.

“I don’t find them boring – they are hard to beat. I watch them a lot and every game they have more chances and more ball possession than the opponent and in every game the opponent has only one or two chances.”