Date: 4 November 2017 Opposition: West Ham United
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Date: 4 November 2017 Standard BBC Sunday Times Sun Telegraph Independent November 4 2017 Echo Observer Times Telegraph Opposition: West Ham United Competition: League Mail Sun Independent Guardian Mirror Fernandes 4 (sub: A Carroll 46 min, 5), M Noble 5 (sub: M Arnautovic 61, 4) P Obiang 4, A Cresswell 5 -- A Ayew 5, M Lanzini 6 -- J Hernandez 5 (sub: D Sakho Carroll lays into home fans as Bilic heads for the exit 72). Substitutes not used Adrian, S Haksabanovic, A Masuaku, D Rice. Booked Lanzini, Noble, Reid. West Ham United 1 Lanzini 55 4 Liverpool (4-4-2): S Mignolet 5 -- J Gomez 5, J Matip 6, R Klavan 6, A Moreno 6 -- A Liverpool Salah 21, 75, Matip 24, Oxlade-Chamberlain 56 Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 (sub: D Lovren 87), G Wijnaldum 5, E Can 6, S Mane 7 (sub: Referee N Swarbrick Attendance 56,961 J Milner 77) -- M Salah 8, R Firmino 7 (sub: D Solanke 87). Substitutes not used L The notion that it might be David Moyes who spends the international break Karius, M Grujic, T Alexander-Arnold, D Sturridge. rummaging in cupboards, peering at charts and footage to determine how to set about guiding West Ham United to a more comfortable position in the Premier League proved so distasteful to many of the club's supporters that what had appeared a done deal for the former Sunderland manager yesterday morning Liverpool pile pressure on West Ham with Mohamed Salah double ended up as a study in procrastination. Slaven Bilic might, in the board's view, After another drubbing in the new home that was supposed to take this have run out of ideas and the team has indeed been lurching from one crisis to underachieving club to unimaginable heights, and after another night when the another but the club's owners need a semblance of backing for whoever is to initial mutiny in the stands had given way to resignation long before the final replace him -- if indeed they choose to sack him this week -- not least because the whistle, Slaven Bilic can have no complaints if it turns out West Ham’s patience most pressing concern at West Ham is disenchantment. Andy Carroll labelled the has finally snapped. It was another shambles on live television, the 10th time that defeat by Liverpool "a terrible day" in terms of the crass defending that allowed West Ham have conceded at least three goals at home since last season’s move to the visitors to carve open West Ham, but the striker also pointed a finger at the the London Stadium and another game when the best way to beat the rush vast swathes of supporters who began to file out of the London Stadium outside was to stay in your seat until the bitter end. Bilic wore a grim, haunted once Liverpool had scored their third goal in the 56th minute. look as his team suffered the latest in a long line of humiliations. "Well, they really should be staying," Carroll said. "They should be staying until The sole positive for West Ham’s manager was that Liverpool were not more the end. You never know what's going to happen. Obviously, it frustrates you. You ruthless, which is a funny thing to say after a 4-1 win that moved Jürgen Klopp’s don't think about it during the game but when you see the game back and you side into sixth place, below Arsenal and Chelsea on goal difference. see the fans leaving, they shouldn't really be leaving. They should be supporting Inspired by Sadio Mané , who created both of Mohamed Salah’s goals, Liverpool us no matter what. We should be playing better. It's us to blame. But they should strolled to a third consecutive victory, while West Ham provided further evidence be helping us out a bit." If, come May, there is a battle between Crystal Palace they are destined for a long scrap against relegation. They are crying out for and West Ham over a relegation place, then it is Roy Hodgson's team that could extensive reconstructive surgery and the international fortnight offers David have the edge thanks to their supporters who remained in Selhurst Park last Sullivan and David Gold, the club’s owners, a chance to act. weekend and were rewarded with a 97th-minute equaliser against Carroll's team. And what more do they need to see before putting Bilic out of his misery? It had "They [West Ham fans] walked out at half-time against Tottenham Hotspur [in the been a fortnight since West Ham’s last home game, that chaotic 3-0 defeat to EFL Cup at Wembley] when we were getting beat 2-0 and we turned it round," Brighton, and a week since the second-half capitulation in the 2-2 draw with Carroll said. Palace fans last week; look what happened in the 97th minute. Fans Crystal Palace, and this was a mess against opponents who also have a habit of should stay until the end, regardless of the team." Whoever is manager at the making life needlessly difficult for themselves. club can do little to fix the echoing blandness of the converted Olympic Stadium, Liverpool fell apart on their last visit to London, losing to Tottenham Hotspur in a nor the long soulless trudge along characterless roads to reach it, but some manner that raised further questions about Klopp’s approach, and they needed thrilling, winning football would rouse the fans and help make the club's new time to adjust to a new system that saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right home atmospheric. There is scepticism that Moyes can introduce much in the way and Salah operating in the hole behind Roberto Firmino, with Mané a constant that is thrilling or winning, however. The 54-year-old flailed in the spotlight at Old roving menace on his surprise inclusion after a month out with an injured Trafford and failed to ignite an escape from relegation at Sunderland. He arguably hamstring. needs this appointment more than West Ham need him and the fact that he It did not help that Jordan Henderson was missing with a muscle problem but the would have been appointed on an interim basis indicates that the co-owners do impact of the midfielder’s absence was minimised by Gini Wijnaldum’s late not want a five-year plan but the new manager-bounce that could stop a slide recovery from an ankle injury. towards the Sky Bet Championship. Tactically, West Ham struggle to focus for 90 There was an early sense that West Ham’s forwards fancied their chances against minutes. They are capable of sizzling, of the odd smash and grab, but lack Ragnar Klavan and Joël Matip. The hosts almost took an early lead when Manuel consistency and concentration, even within matches. Their defending Lanzini’s deflected pass ran kindly for Andre Ayew, only for the forward’s post to against Liverpool was naive but more significant was that they conceded hit the woodwork. West Ham would rue Ayew’s miss. “We started well,” Bilic said. immediately after Manuel Lanzini gave them hope. “We were not allowing them space in behind.” But then came the three-minute "We've got great quality," Carroll said. "Fantastic quality. I've got no doubt about spell when the game spiralled out of West Ham’s control midway through the first it that we'll stay up this season. Everyone in the dressing room thinks the same. half, a collapse sparked by a soft opening goal. It beggared belief that Aaron There's worse teams in the league than us to go down. We're fine. We've got a Cresswell found himself confronted by three Liverpool attackers after a West Ham fantastic team." It is this type of optimism that has gnawed away at the team this corner was cleared. Bilic insisted his team were set up well but it did not take season and last. Quality of player does not matter if utilised awkwardly. Nor does much for Mané to burst through the middle and feed the ball to Salah, who it matter if it lacks application. In his analysis on BT Sport, Steven Gerrard slipped a low finish past Joe Hart and into the net. “We are conceding too many compared Liverpool's Roberto Firmino to Javier Hernandez and concluded that goals in that manner,” Bilic said. The loss of shape was bewildering – Bilic spoke "one doesn't care, [is] lazy, the other runs his socks off." about naivety – and so was the defending that allowed Matip to double It could be argued that the selfbelief exhibited by Carroll was at the heart of West Liverpool’s lead. Salah’s low corner hit Mark Noble and although Hart showed Ham's attempt to score deep into added time at Selhurst Park when all that was sharp reflexes, Matip turned in the rebound. needed to protect the three points was a spasm of modest caution. Liverpool were not at their most fluent in the first half but they hardly needed to The team resembles one of those progressive boarding schools without a be. Yes, West Ham had selection issues in defence, with Sam Byram, James Collins timetable, where the pupils choose whether to study history or go horse riding and José Fonte injured and Pablo Zabaleta suspended, while the absence of the instead, and when they are collected by their parents are discovered not to know hamstrung Michail Antonio deprived them of attacking dynamism.