KLOPP HAMMERS IN ANOTHER NAIL
Bilic put back in the spotlight as Liverpool run riot in horror show at the London Stadium
SOMETIMES it is not the defeat that marks the end of an era — the manner of the loss is far more damaging than the scoreline.
West Ham were abject against Liverpool at the London Stadium last night. A crowd of almost 60,000 had withered and thinned to about 15,000 hardy souls who saw it out to the bitter end to half-heartedly boo the team off. Most remaining were jubilant Liverpool fans.
This was not how it was meant to be when West Ham launched their brave new world in Stratford last year. Then, Slaven Bilic was riding high, having overseen an excellent first season at the club, full of passion and excitement. European adventures beckoned, new horizons were coming into view. West Ham might even have hoped to become one of the big six.
That seems fanciful for now. Of course, they will play better than this and they could yet recover some respectability.
Yet when you concede so easily, defend so poorly and appear so utterly bewildered by a Liverpool team which, good though they are, always offer some hope, it is hard to see how any quick improvement will come.
Owners David Gold and David Sullivan must ponder whether to see out a season treading water at best and then head out for deeper waters in the summer, or take the plunge now. Right now, West Ham have a League Cup quarter-final to sustain them but little else.
Conceding goals to Liverpool on the counter attack is not necessarily a disgrace, however. Plenty have done so this season and better sides than West Ham. But the way they collectively allowed the first goal to be scored after 22 minutes was especially abject. There were 13 seconds between Manuel Lanzini taking West Ham’s corner at one end and Mohamed Salah scoring at the other.
Liverpool headed the corner clear and the ball fell to Salah. His clever touch for Sadio Mane put Edimilson Fernandes out of the game but, in theory, that should have only been temporarily. Incredibly, though, Salah and Mane, with Alex OxladeChamberlain swiftly joining them, found themselves deep inside their own half yet with just Aaron Cresswell confronting them. It was evidently a hopeless task.
Quite how West Ham had left themselves so exposed was inexplicable. Presumably that is not how Bilic intends them to set up for a corner against the quickest counter-attacking side in the league. It was beyond naive, a schoolboy moment.
Mane carried the ball for 60 metres before releasing Salah as Cresswell battled against the odds. What was as shocking, though, was that only Mark Noble and Winston Reid had then managed to get themselves anywhere near the attackers.
Though they could not catch them, they both overtook Fernandes, who sauntered back. No surprise that he was replaced at half-time but barely any of his team-mates contributed either. As such, Salah’s task was easy to finish from close range and Joe Hart and Cresswell’s mission was always doomed.
Then, two minutes and 37 seconds passed from the restart before West Ham were looking around utterly bewildered again and now two goals down. This time, at least, it was a Liverpool corner which was their downfall.
Salah drilled it in low to Mane but Andre Ayew cleared against Mark Noble. Hart dived to save the deflection off his own team-mate but could only push the ball to Joel Matip, who finished from close range.
Twenty four minutes had passed and West Ham had seemingly resigned from the contest. Which was infuriating for their supporters as, given the fragile state of Liverpool’s defence, they were not unreasonably hopeful in the early exchanges.
They should have taken the lead in the 10th minute, Lanzini lifting the ball beyond that often-hapless Liverpool back four for Ayew, who charged clear but shot against the post with Simon Mignolet rapidly closing down his angle.
Liverpool always offer you some hope, however. They are not a team to shut up shop, rather, they are open all hours.
West Ham changed to a more effective 4-4-2 with Andy Carroll at half-time and, in the 55th minute, Ayew’s cross headed in Lanzini’s direction. The Argentine still had plenty of work to do but his movement was too clever for Joe Gomez, with Lanzini giving himself a clear strike on goal. That said, his volley past Mignolet, crisp and powerful, was wonderful.
Briefly the London Stadium stirred from its slumber. Yet, as had been their wont in this game, they quickly managed to puncture their own optimism. Just 55 seconds passed from the re-start and hope was deferred once more.
Roberto Firmino shrugged off half-hearted challenges, found space and released OxladeChamberlain. His first strike was parried by Hart but the rebound landed kindly and the former Arsenal man scored from close range, his first Premier League goal since his summer move from the Emirates.
Even then Liverpool were not wholly safe. Carroll remained a threat and, just two minutes after Liverpool restored their two-goal lead, Lanzini should have scored for West Ham again. But, played in by Carroll and with Mignolet to beat, he fired over.
Liverpool would, however, extend their lead still further. Mane wriggled his way through a plethora of semi-committed challenges before lifting the ball to Salah, in yards of space, on the edge of the box. Confident and precise, the Egyptian drilled the ball across goal and into the far corner. Cue an exodus.
Even with 10 minutes to play, the stadium was half empty. But the team had surrendered long before the crowd had thrown in the towel.