Match Report: Lack of Composure and Fatigue Costs Liverpool in West Ham Defeat
Brendan Rodgers insisted that Liverpool would not "Do a Tottenham" when it came to spending the money received from Barcelona following Luis Suarez's move to Camp Nou. The Uruguayan cost £75 in the summer, sparking suggestions that Liverpool would fall into the same trap as Spurs, in that they spent £85m on sub-standard talent in the wake of Gareth Bale's record-breaking move to Real Madrid the year before.
The Reds brought in Rickie Lambert, Lazar Markovic, Mario Balotelli and Adam Lallana to ease the loss of Suarez, while Raheem Sterling has been given greater attacking importance. However, the same defensive frailties from last season were evident when Liverpool made the trip to Upton Park in Saturday's evening kick off, despite the signings of Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo. Rodgers' side had won 4 of their last 5 league meetings with West Ham in the capital prior to the encounter, but came unstuck this time around.
Goals from Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho in the opening 7 minutes rocked Liverpool, Reid's in particular highlighting flaws in the visitor's backline. Going 2-0 down early on forced Rodgers into action, with the Reds boss substituting Manquillo for Mamadou Sakho after 22 minutes as the away side switched to a 3-man defence. Sterling moved to right wing-back, which paid dividends 4 minutes later as the young England international rifled past Adrián to half the deficit.
Liverpool pressed for the equaliser after the interval, but came undone late on as Morgan Amalfitano confirmed all three points for the hosts in a 3-1 win. While Rodgers' defensive changes gave the visitors a fighting chance of coming back into the game, the lack of solidity at the back was painstakingly evident from the get go. Reid's opener came after James Tomkins was picked out by Stewart Downing from a free-kick early on, with Jordan Henderson left to mark Tomkins, highlighting a lack of organisation at the back that did not improve as the game wore on.
The visitors enjoyed a larger share of possession (62% to West Ham's 38%) but the defence panicked each time West Ham attacked. Despite spending more time on the ball, Liverpool's three centre-backs - Dejan Lovren, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho - made a combined 23 clearances in the encounter at Upton Park. For a team famed for its ability to build attacks from the back, the lack of composure at the heart of the backline is cause for concern. That isn't to take credit away from West Ham however, who pressed with intent from the first whistle.
Their starting front three - Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Stewart Downing - made a combined 4 interceptions in the confidence-boosting victory and the high energy approach that Sam Allardyce implemented meant Liverpool struggled to settle, especially in their defensive third. Not only did this force the Reds' backline into rash clearances from the back, but helped create chances for the hosts. West Ham had more shots (13 to Liverpool's 11), despite seeing less of the ball than their opponents, and the performance of the attack in particular aided that.
After Liverpool's first game back in the Champions League, the Reds appeared fatigued as they failed to perform to the standards expected of them and West Ham duly capitalised. "We played a high-pressing game today. We played outstandingly well and didn't let Liverpool play at all," Allardyce said in his post-match press conference and they deserved the share of the spoils as West Ham's WhoScored rating (7.13 to Liverpool's 6.57) indicates. The Reds, though, need to improve if they are to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they face Everton in the Merseyside Derby next weekend.
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