Liverpool Versus West Ham: What Did We Learn?

First and foremost, what a result! A draw at Anfield is huge. Performance-wise West Ham lacked a lot going forward but defensively we were very, very solid. James Collins had a huge game for us and he was the key to getting the point. In any article you have to look at a few things. I have looked at the positives and whilst I have pointed out negatives they aren’t really that negative at all. We got the draw, it didn’t matter how we got it but we did. I’m sure the comment section will ‘rip’ me for pointing out some negatives though.

It’s safe to say that all of us are happy with getting a point away at Anfield. Defensively we were absolutely fantastic. At times we were playing 6 at the back which frustrated me hugely because we didn’t need to. Collins had Suarez in his back pocket all game and Tomkins provided cover.

Liverpool rarely created clear cut chances because Demel, Collins, Tomkins and O’Brien did their jobs very well. A massive positive and the first thing we learned today is that, as a core defensive unit we know we can perform against the big sides. O’Brien is never going to light it up going forward but when told just to sit back and defend he can do a job. Demel has the ability to do both very well. The defensive display was especially great when you consider the fact that Winston Reid (future hammer of the year) was not in the side.

Today’s performance (as per usual under Sam) was all about not losing and for once this season I agreed to some extent with how we played.

Mo Diame was fantastic, his jink through 5 Liverpool players in the first half was majestic and he nearly scored from it. The second thing we learned/were reminded of, is that Diame will be very hard to keep in the summer.

We did manage to create chances up top but in reality we were under a lot of pressure for large periods of the game and had little options when going forward. As the game wore on I felt more and more confident we could nick it as defensively we were looking increasingly comfortable, perhaps I suffer from wanting too much out of the game but I would have liked our subs to be a bit more positive and I would go as far to say that we would have smashed Liverpool if we set up like we did last week; If we had set up more positively throughout the season we may have already been safe in my opinion.

Sam does not know what he is doing when it comes to substitutions. A key moment in the game was the double substitution with Kevin Nolan and Ricardo Vaz Te coming off, yes Big Sam took Kevin Nolan off and he wasn’t injured! My excitement soon diminished when I realised Matt Taylor was coming on for Nolan and Collison was being pushed out wide for Vaz Te. Big Sam continues to frustrate me by refusing to play Collison in the central role that Nolan plays, where Collison has had a lot of success when given the chance.  Nolan really is not cut out for PL football anymore and that Matt Taylor is not a central midfielder. Although we already knew that, only Sam refuses to accept it. Subbing Vaz Te off over Jarvis frustrated me as Jarvis had a poor game. I would have also liked to see Maiga given a chance up top with CC towards the end but enough of the negatives which aren’t particularly important as we got the draw.

Back to the positives. The fifth thing we found out is that we are safe. Not mathematically but it was a key game for us, we competed with Liverpool at Anfield and came out with a point and that will push us to safety. No one was expecting or even hoping for a win away at Liverpool yet we have come away from that game thinking we could have easily nicked it and never looked like losing. We were denied a penalty that should have been given and had a header saved off the line. It was not a good game to watch for the neutrals and I didn’t even enjoy it if I am being honest but at the final whistle I loved it. It was a fantastic game for us Hammers fans and the minor negatives I have pointed out show how well we played. Also, speculation has surrounded Jussi Jaaskelainen all season but he has been fantastic for the past couple of months and again today.

In summary, we learnt we our safe and we learnt that defensively we are set, even with Joey O’Brien starting, although I would like an addition in the summer at left back. I would have liked to see us play a bit more expansively like we did last week against West Brom and arguably we learnt that we can be more confident even against sides like Liverpool. We didn’t just draw, we never looked like conceding.  Liverpool are no Man Utd anymore but it is still a fantastic result and will give the whole club a further lift after last week going in to the final games of the season.

Unfortunately it looks like Big Sam will secure a new contract, I just hope performances like this show him that we can compete with the bigger sides in the league so next season why don’t we try looking to beat the teams that are bottom half sides. He is great at getting results against good sides, if he can add a few tactics which involve 2 up front for against weaker sides I will be a happy man. We have a squad that needs a few players to improve it but as a core group of players we are set. If you replace Nolan, O’Neil, Taylor and O’Brien with players of near Diame’s class we suddenly have a very, very good side. Anyway, what a point!! COYI!!