Three Things We Learned From Liverpool’s Defeat At The Hands Of West Ham

Back to back losses against the likes of Aston Villa and West Ham never looks good and now the manager must delve deep into the performance of the team to find out the causes and the course of action. After such a brilliant game against Spurs, nobody expected Liverpool to falter against these teams, but they did. In between they have a win to brag about against the minnows in the Champions League, but we all know exactly how it came.

There were always doubts about how Liverpool will perform after the transfer of Luis Suarez. A lot of new players came to the squad and many of them were unknown products in the European stage. It was also a matter to watch out for how they would get adjusted in the new squad. And after the first few weeks Brendan Rodgers does not have too many reasons to feel optimistic. Now is the time for him to take notes and see how they can bounce back from the loss. We talk about three talking points from the game.

Sterling is unable to do the magic solely:

Raheem Sterling did quite well to his standards throughout the match and even scored one goal. But it was evident that his efforts fell short and Liverpool ultimately saw defeat at the hands of West Ham. After the Villa match many perceived that Sterling’s inclusion to the squad would solve the problems for Rodgers and the young English midfielder would help his side to outdo the opponents on his own. But that was not to be and now it has been proved that Sterling needs another creative player in front of him to be the most productive. While Balotelli has been doing decently, he is more of a target man and he would not be able to have that flair as someone like Suarez and hence the problem.

The lack of final ball:

It is not like Liverpool are doing things very differently from last year. On the contrary even last season they played mostly in the same manner with pace and flair. But the main difference from last season has been the lack of the final ball and the penetration. This is exactly the job that Luis Suarez used to do in the Merseyside club and one area where Liverpool could struggle for time to come without any top quality attacking midfielder in the team.

The defensive woes:

After last season it was thought that Brendan Rodgers would solve the defensive woes of the club and the back four would be more organised. There were expectations that this season we would be able to see a new Liverpool defence with new men. But the change has been only cosmetic with the same dismal state o the defence. The back four are still disorganized and any team can throw them at a back foot with some nicely orchestrated attack. If this is the condition of the defence for long, the chances for a top four finish will become more and more distant.