And in one fell swoop, the hard work done by Liverpool’s defence to dispel the problems of last season were all undone. Liverpool crashed to their first defeat of the season, an unexpected one, at the hands of the Premier League’s most inconsistent performers, West Ham United. The Reds mustered just one shot on target but the Hammers scored thrice and left Liverpool reeling from a defeat that has raised questions, yet again, about Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge post Luis Suarez and the leaky defence.
On paper this game was a set three points for Liverpool, especially after their terrific performance at the Emirates but Liverpool’s defenders decided to go missing in the game and West Ham capitalised on some slack defending and some great tactics by Slaven Bilic, who even joked that the club “parked the bus but didn’t leave the handbrake on”.
The result hasn’t knocked Liverpool out of the race for the top four but certainly has brought back the prospects of them missing out on the top four when the other clubs start reeling in the wins. A loss against West Ham, the first win since 1963 at Anfield, wouldn’t have been a problem, the lack of attacking firepower was the main issue for Liverpool, who looked devoid of ideas after conceding in the third minute.
Rodgers’ praise wasn’t well timed
In retrospect it seems extremely mistimed when Rodgers was praising Dejan Lovren for his solid displays in the first three games of the season. This time around, the Croatian undid all his good work especially when he decided to dilly-dally with the ball and his lack of control led to West Ham scoring their second goal. The former Southampton defender was back to his inconsistent self and his confidence would have taken a hammering, pardon the pun, after this performance. To bring some stability at the back, Rodgers should turn to Sakho, who for some reason has been frozen from the squad.
The other problem in defence was when the youngster Joe Gomez was found out as a left-back. This wasn’t his natural position and he had taken over the place of Alberto Moreno. Gomez had impressed in all the games leading to this one but he was ripped to shreds time and time again. Bringing Moreno in his place could help Liverpool as they face their big rivals, Manchester United, in a couple of weeks’ time.
One dimensional attack fails to produce the spark
If there was one criticism of Liverpool in the Premier League era, it has been the fact that they have been a one man team, they always looked at Steven Gerrard during his best years, then when he was plagued with injuries they turned to Fernando Torres. After a couple of years it was Luis Suarez who saved them time and time again and now it is Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian might be able to produce the spark but he still isn’t the most consistent player and there seems to be a lack of creativity in attack. Even Roberto Firmino hasn’t looked all that great and he needs to start producing the goods to show that he really was worth the price tag.
Liverpool don’t seem to have a plan B either, one of the biggest problems with Rodgers over the years. He cannot deal with teams who decide to be defensive, and after Liverpool conceded, he just did not know what to do. Liverpool have one of the most physical strikers in the game in Benteke but they don’t have wingers to support him. Nathaniel Clyne is the only player who is given the task of bombing forward to cross the ball, but even he was ineffective, Joe Gomez isn’t a left-back so expecting him to bomb on and produce crosses will be hit and miss.
Liverpool have a long way to go, the season is just four games old and they have the squad to deal with the issues. Playing two strikers with a narrow midfield is one option which should work for them. They do have two full-backs who love to attack in Moreno and Clyne, and playing Sakho with Skrtel should give them more stability at the back than using Lovren. Rodgers knows this is his last chance to get Liverpool back to the top four, anything less than that and he will be looking at the ‘This is Anfield’ sign as a visitor and not an employee of Liverpool.
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