Five Things Learnt from Liverpool vs West Ham
SillySeason take a look into The Hammers’ shock 3-0 win over Liverpool
West Ham United provided one of the shocks of the weekend when they smashed Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield yesterday afternoon thanks to goals from Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Diafra Sakho.
After a shaky start to the season from The Hammers, it looked like Liverpool were going to keep their unbeaten start to the season going following two wins and a draw.
However, Brendan Rodgers‘s side were stunned by Slaven Bilic‘s men and came away with nothing, suffering their first defeat of the season, and also conceding their first goals of the campaign.
But what stood out for SillySeason at Anfield? It’s time to take an in-depth look.
5) Dejan Lovren Is Awful
The heading says it all really.
Dejan Lovren is a shadow of his Southampton-self and has really struggled to adapt to Liverpool lifestyle since his £20million move last summer.
The Croat is not a favourite with the fans and he further ruined his reputation yesterday following a shocking performance.
Lovren was at fault for the second goal after he managed to lose the ball on his own byline whilst trying to keep it in play. He was weak on the ball and turned right into danger before failing to win the ball back.
The ball eventually fell to Mark Noble who slotted home to give The Hammers a 2-0 lead.
Lovren is not good enough and Brendan Rodgers either needs to bring back Mamadou Sakho into the team, or he needs to dive into the transfer market before Tuesday.
4) Philippe Coutinho Was Silly
No questioning this lad’s talent, but yesterday he was simply foolish.
He got a needless booking when he refused to walk back 10-yards during a free-kick for West Ham, and then after receiving that yellow, he pointlessly slid in on Dimitri Payet, picking up a second yellow.
The first booking was silly and then the second was pointless.
2-0 down and a man down all-but ended the game for Liverpool.
3) Mark Noble Unlucky
If you’ve seen the Mark Noble challenge that saw him got sent off, you will 100% know it wasn’t a sending off.
The West Ham midfielder got the ball cleanly and didn’t even raise his boot. Somehow Kevin Friend saw it as a straight red-card and sent the midfielder on his way.
Noble looked bemused and questioned the fourth official about the decision, before doing an interview after and confirming he had no clue why he was sent off.
West Ham will appeal the decision and it simply has to be overturned.
2) West Ham Better Away
West Ham United look a better team away from home this season.
Two games, two wins, five goals, none conceded and that’s against Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium and Anfield.
Then you look at their home form. Two games, two losses, four goals, six conceded, and that is against Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth.
Slaven Bilic‘s men look a lot better away from home and away from Upton Park, but at home their form is very worrying especially when they are conceding goals against the likes of Leicester and Bournemouth.
If they can get their home form right and continue their away form, they could be a real force for the season.
1) Christian Benteke Needs Help
Everyone said when Christian Benteke arrived at Liverpool, who will he cope? How will he fit in?
Well so far, he’s struggled.
With the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, Liverpool don’t play the type of football that Benteke thrives on. They keep the ball grounded and rarely cross the ball. In fact, last season they were the team with the fewest number of crosses.
Yes he’s scored a goal for them and he should have had one against Arsenal, but he’s so isolated at Anfield and that could be a real problem come May.
Brendan Rodgers needs to find a way to include him more and get him in the game.
So there are our Five Things from the West Ham win at Anfield.
What stood out for you?
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt