Liverpool v West Ham United A Liverpool Perspective
A win that left Liverpool just needing 6 more points, at most, to be confirmed as champions but one that also produced more questions than answers. It started off so well, the crowd were up, there was a feel good factor around the club after Salah signed a new deal and the team started off well. For the first half an hour, it was all roses as Liverpool took the game to West Ham and completely dominated. After that, there was a very gradual drop off in pace of ball movement and the intensity of the press, which had been excellent, until West Ham were able to get back into the game in the final few minutes of the first half.
The second half started again with a high intensity press and Liverpool were back on the front foot, but it did not last long before the team started to fade and the press became disjointed again. That left huge gaps for the Hammers to play through and Liverpool were relying on Alisson to keep them ahead, with some excellent stops.
The substitutions did not help, as they seemed to cause a lot of disruption to the team. There had already been problems at the back, as van Dijk and Konate kept allowing themselves to be dragged too far apart, but after Bradley was replaced by Quansah, with Robertson now on the left, the defending became shambolic. You would be forgiven for thinking the back four had never even met each other before and all only spoke a language that none of the other three could understand. To be fair, that probably is true of Robertson!
Van Dijk’s boot and knee to Robertson’s neck summed up the mess and was just a prelude to the conceding of a silly own goal after the pair had another mix up. The communication was just non-existent between the two. It was so good but frustrating to watch the team immediately lift their performance after that and peg West Ham back again, until van Dijk scored to put Liverpool back in front. Then it was once again back to the slow play and dropping off, inviting them on and Fullkrug very nearly made them pay in the dying minutes.
At one point, this league season looked a simple procession to the title, but it is turning into a slog. What worries me most of all is that Slot did so well by sticking with Klopp’s style and just tweaking it a little, but as the season has wore on he has moved away from the way the previous regime played further and further, which has seen performances get worse. It is difficult to know whether that is due to the tactics, fatigue or even just the pressure of being in a title fight. Or possibly a combination of those factors.
West Ham United
West Ham struggled to cope with Liverpool early on and could easily have conceded more goals as they were overrun in midfield. That is something they do need to address for next season, their midfield is slow and lacking in quality, with only Paqueta showing any willingness to look for an incisive pass. He was their standout and main creative outlet, but he was pretty much on his own, with almost every other attempted ball to the front pair being lumped up high. Kudus is strong as an ox, but he is not good in the air and Bowen is decent in the air for his size but he is not going to beat the Liverpool centre-backs. That meant that the ball kept coming back at them at the beginning of the first half, as every forward ball was swept up by the Liverpool defence.
As the half wore on, and Liverpool stopped pressing with as much intensity, they gradually began to get the ball down and pass it around. Once they did that, they began to create and cause problems. At the start of the second half, Liverpool pressed high again and they were unable to play through the press. As soon as Liverpool slacked off a little in the press, the game changed and the Hammers took advantage. Their midfield pushed up a few yards and began to be the ones doing the pressing and harrying with intensity.
If it was not for Alisson Becker in the LFC net, the Hammers would have turned the game on its head, but he showed why so many of us believe him to be the best in the world. It took a terrible error by two of Liverpool’s most experience players to get West Ham a goal and then they were immediately once again overrun as Liverpool raised their intensity once more. The moment Liverpool scored their second, West Ham were once again able to get at Liverpool and were very unlucky not to equalise.
What I believe was shown is that West Ham’s current side is simply too slow, particularly in midfield, to cope with Liverpool when the Reds are on the front foot. The mobility of Liverpool’s front and midfield three and movement was just too much for West Ham when they were up and at it. However, a Liverpool team playing at less than 100% is very beatable for the Hammers. They have the technical players in midfield to pick holes in opponents and good pace up top, plus skill and strength, to get chances against anyone. But there is a real lack of mobility in midfield and defence, which makes it difficult for them to really attack with freedom.
The defence is afraid to push up high enough, which leaves gaps which the midfield lack the mobility to cover. They also lacked a genuine finisher up top, which Fullkrug could potentially be the answer to when fit. I also have fears for Kudus, who seems to play totally for himself and have no interest in playing for the team. So much quality, but it is not being used to benefit the team right now. If Potter can get him playing for the team, first and foremost, it would make this team so much better.
Liverpool
Alisson – I think it is telling that he was man of the match, it just shows how fine the margins are between victory and defeat/drawing. If Kelleher was still between the sticks, Liverpool are not winning that game as he is not going to make those saves. He is a special keeper.
Bradley – drove forward well in the first half and was popping up all over the pitch. Faded in the second half though.
Konate – aerial balls he lapped up easily, using his height to deal with them. But when West Ham got the ball down and played it about, he was all over the place defensively and had a terrible game. After Quansah came on, he got worse and there was no communication between the two. He was allowing himself to be dragged all over the pitch and leaving a huge gap where he should have been. There was absolutely no partnership with van Dijk evident in this game, they were constantly leaving far too much space between them and giving a huge space for West Ham to drive through.
van Dijk – on the plus side, he scored the winner, which was huge, and played a couple of lovely pinpoint passes. It was just that he had a terrible day defensively, again. There have now been a few games in a row that he has been worryingly poor. Maybe he just needed a rest, but there was a week’s gap after the last game, so he should be fresher than he was. Hopefully, he can get through this patch of poor form and get back to his best, like he showed in the early weeks of the season. He really does need to work on his communication with Robertson though – both kicking him in the head and the own goal were entirely avoidable if the pair of them just talked to each other.
Tsimikas – his delivery from corners was poor and his overall play was just okay. That is a big step up from the way that Robertson has been playing though, so he does seem like the obvious choice to play the final few matches of the season. If he can stay fit.
Gravenberch – had an excellent first half but not so good in the second half. He is definitely much better when the team plays on the front foot, rather than drops off and slows the play.
Jones – he has the tools to be a much better player than he actually is. He showed good mobility and the ability to get up and down the pitch really well, similar to the way Szoboszlai plays the role but with a little less pace. The problem is that he gets on the ball and does a nice pretty little pirouette, which achieves exactly nothing and then takes some extra touches before laying it off square or backwards. There is just no end product for all the pretty stuff. He needs to drive forward more and add goals to his game.
Mac Allister – played really well for most of the game, it was especially noticeable how much better his delivery of set pieces is over the other options right now. You just need to ask van Dijk about that, as it was Mac Allister’s corner that he nodded in to win it. I just wish he would drop the playacting and pretending to be hurt. I know some of it was him trying to help the team by taking the sting out of the game when West Ham got on top, but it still infuriates me to watch. Players rolling around feigning injury really does ruin the game.
Salah – whether it is the end of fasting, the greater rest time between games or the euphoria of signing his new deal, Salah was much better in this game than of late. He was helped by West Ham deciding not to double up on him and leaving just Scarles to deal with him. The teenager looked like he had not slept for a few days worrying about it as well! Salah tormented him until he was taken off, but it will have been a good learning experience for him.
Jota – it was a normal Jota performance, run around a lot offering absolutely nothing in terms of movement that can be picked out, when you do get the ball, give it straight back to the opposition and generally make people wonder why he keeps getting picked.
Diaz – his movement in the first half was excellent, though he was not getting the ball delivered where he wanted or when he wanted it. He is looking much more like himself these last couple of games and it is good to see Slot actually having a selection dilemma between him and Gakpo on the left, when the rest of the team picks itself when everyone is fit. Ended up playing on the right, after a stint in the centre.
Robertson – replaced Tsimikas in the 59th minute. A disastrous error-strewn performance. You would think by now he and van Dijk would have decent communication, but I suppose it is difficult when Robertson has yet to learn English! It is such a sad end to a great LFC career, but we must be witnessing his final few weeks as a player at the club.
Gakpo – was brought on in the stead of Jota in the 59th minute. The way Liverpool were playing meant that he spent more time playing defence, rather than being a threat in the final third.
Quansah – replaced Bradley in the 68th minute. Truly awful performance defensively. He needs to be taught the basics of defending, which is shocking for a graduate from a Premier League academy who came through as a defender. He should at least know the basics of defending as a right-back, but he has no idea where he should be or what he should be doing.
Szoboszlai – also came on in the 68th minute, taking the place of Jones. Ended up playing up top after Salah went off, but he spent more of his time defending than he actually did taking the game to the Hammers. The way Liverpool played, dropping off rather than pressing, just did not work at all and left him unable to offer anything of real value other than hard running.
Endo – Salah went off so Endo could come on in the 84th minute as Slot looked to shore up the defence. Worked hard trying to fill in gaps, but all he really achieved was to give away a couple of free kicks to try and slow West Ham down.
Written by Tris Burke April 15 2025 12:59:32
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