Liverpool vs West Ham: Top writer questions ‘weird’ Reds
Top journalist Rory Smith has questioned ‘weird’ Liverpool after their performance against West Ham in the Premier League on Monday night.
The Reds could only watch their lead at the top of the table drop down to three points after failing to beat the Hammers at the start of the week.
And Smith, who writes for the New York Times, questioned the way Liverpool went about the game against West Ham.
He went on to say that the team could be more assertive and implied they need to dominate sides. Or rather, Smith implied that it’s strange to see a team who have only lost against Manchester City this campaign fail to demolish teams below them.
And he may have a point. Liverpool failed to make it count against Leicester City and could have gone seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a win. Instead they drew.
And again the side gained an early lead through Sadio Mane before conceding and failing to retake the lead. Another three points thrown away.
For a team that’s only lost once this season, and has been top of the league for a couple of months or so, there’s a weird lack of conviction in Liverpool’s play. Same against Leicester, and for quite a lot of the season. They don’t really assert themselves.
— Rory Smith (@RorySmith) February 4, 2019
Adam Lallana started only his second game of the season, but couldn’t be the spark that Liverpool was missing as he was slating for only having one trick up his sleeve.
West Ham had previously conceded seven goals in their last two games as Manuel Pellegrini oversaw losses against AFC Wimbledon and Wolves.
This team should have been able to see off the challenge from the Irons, and Divock Origi should have won it at the very end. However, it shouldn’t be up to the substitute Origi to turn things around – there is enough talent in the squad to do that themselves.
Next. Joel Matip Bambi on ice, bin Adam Lallana? Read our West Ham player ratings here!. dark
The next two games are important for Liverpool. Bournemouth are their next Premier League opponent before Bayern Munich make the trip across the channel to play at Anfield in the first leg of their last 16 clash.