Liverpool 3 West Ham 0
Kovac came in for Parker in central midfield and Grant started with a 4-3-3 formation. Obinna and Piquionne however on the wings both continually drifted infield and both failed to track back giving Liverpool's full-backs free rein to get forward.
West Ham were completely outplayed for the whole of the first half and looked clueless both with and without the ball. Liverpool's first goal came in the 17th minute when Johnson had time from a corner to chest the ball down in the area and score from ten yards.
The second came from a penalty after Gabbidon handballed in the area. Kuyt shot down the middle from the spot to score with Green diving to his left. In the 35th minute Liverpool got their third after an unmarked Rodriguez headed in from 8 yards.
West Ham's only effort on target was a soft header from Cole which was straight at Reina in goal. So an embarrassed West Ham went into the break a deserved 3 goals down.
Barrera came on for Obinna in the second half and West Ham changed to a 4-4-2 formation. The change in formation suited West Ham and they were far more in the game in the second half.
The change in formation however didin't lead to any more threat going forward for West Ham. In the 50th minute Noble did have a long range effort that flew wide.
At the other end Green made two excellent saves in quick succession to keep the goal difference down. In the 72nd minute Green made a brilliant save diving to his right to save from Torres. Thirty seconds later Green made another brilliant save, this time diving to his left to save a Paulson shot.
West Ham were probably always going to struggle at Anfield today but they weren't helped by Grant getting his tactics completely wrong from the start.
posted by Keir Clarke @ 6:12 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
The most worrying thing about the match was the complete lack of urgency in defence-ours is by far the worst in the league because we simply do not close down the space ,and we allow the opposition endless time on the ball. How can Grant not have corrected this. We are in a relegation scrap yet we showed no mettle or commitment at all. That our passing was woeful in the first half was not a surprise without Parker,and without even having Behrami available to replace Parker. But our unwillingness to put pressure on the ball all over the pitch is inexcusable-that cannot be blamed on Parker's absence.
I don't normally like to throw the towel in on a manager so soon,but the players are not responding to Grant ,and we are certain to go down if our players continue to look so unmotivated. I don't know who realistically we can bring in to replace Grant,but sticking with him for the sake of it and hoping for the best should not be an option. There is a total negativity around the club and it has got to be lifted or we have no chance
1 word o'niel
I am sick to death of this, i look at the fixtures and i stuggle to see where the next point is coming from, only 2 players seemed to care Noble (Again) and Green who made some great saves. Grant has to go and we also need to buy in the January window a striker and some defenders!! or get a coach who knows something about defending,although any one decent is not going to come to us!
I am sitting in my work colleagues house in Liverpool writing this (thanks for ticket john) even though i had to sit with the Liverpool fans!
In between fits of laughter and comments regarding West Ham my mate and his friends have come to the same conclusion as me, and a lot of Hammers fans if they are honest and that is we are F****d.
Bob
agree 8.37
Only hope is to bring in Martin O'Neill. Short of that ,we are toast.
The lack of concern shown by most players on the pitch tells u all u need to know. I agree that ,bar Green and Noble,hardly anybody seemed to care. Maybe Piqionne,but even he didn't seem bothered enuf to try to prevent Johnson's opener when he was a cuple meters away from the player
It is quite hartbreaking for me a hammer for 59 years to witness such a clueless inept lifeless performance from a group of players going under the name West Ham United This must be rock bottom and only urgent changes to manager and players might save us from relegation We seem doomed
I didnt stay up to watch it l suppose l didnt miss much wat l have read, I have always sed we should never had let Zola go his tactics were beta than this manager , y do we play kovac y dont we put sum play some kids that have some passion and desire to win at all costs . I still think we have most of the players to get us out of relegation zone , y didnt we get pires we needed a another scoring midfielder and that wat pires is even thou he is 37 , much beta than kovac
Turned it off in disgust after 3rd goal. We are by far the worst team in the Premiership. This game, as with any 'Big' game was lost before we even stepped on the pitch. Not sure we're even good enough for the Championship at the moment!!!!!
By the time we get the Olympic stadium we will be in Blue Sq Conference at this rate. They will throw us out cos we can't afford the rent and we will have sold our ground. Similar to what happened to Romford at Brooklands in the 60's. That's an idea we could ground share with them at Collier Row
Awful performance again! We started the match like we were 1-0 up with a minute to go - All behind the ball just lumping it up to that waste of space Cole.
No Fight or Passion apart from Noble!
Get Rid of Grant, He did well for Chelsea but that team could manage itself really. Sell the hot and cold players - Cole Kovac Boa Morte Upson Behrami Gabbidon Spector Green Dyer Faubert etc.. If we got £20 million for the lot thats something. Bring a coupld of young hungry players in and a hungry English manager.
Basic team should be built around Noble Parker Collison Stanislas Hines Piquionne Tomkins Hitzlespeger Stech Jacobsen. With a few fresh consistant performers brought in we would be much better. We need more passion and less on and off players!
Face it people we are not good enough for this league and haven't been for at least 18 months.Grant was hired because he was cheap, the new players are generally free cast offs from clubs who knew they weren't worth their wages. News signings in January, who is going to come more Benni McCarthy's?
That performance was the worst performance I have seen since.... Newcastle (not that long!) I didn't bother going all the way to Anfield and glad I didn't cause I turned the game off after 30minutes! Unheard of from me! I was at the Blackpool game and that was equally bad! 7 points required, 3 points gained.. same old west ham, taking the ****!
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