Jurgen Klopp says he noticed a ‘strange’ performance from Liverpool vs West Ham United tonight. The Reds’ boss knew what went wrong.
Liverpool really did scrape past West Ham at Anfield. The 1-0 scoreline absolutely tells the story of a game where the Reds rode their luck.
They took the lead through Sadio Mané but really should have seen it slip before half-time. Pablo Fornals got through on goal, with only a goalline clearance by Trent Alexander-Arnold saving the clean-sheet.
Chances for Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini and Jarrod Bowen followed but Liverpool somehow avoided conceding. A lack of chances going forward prevented the safety of a second goal, too.
And yet, Liverpool won. They saw things out and kept the pressure on Manchester City by beating a top side. It was enough for Jurgen Klopp to label the Liverpool performance ‘strange’.
Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool vs West Ham
“That’s the strange part – I saw a lot of top individual performances tonight and Sadio was one of them,” he told Sky Sports. “He played a really good game, scored the goal and was really difficult to defend.
“But again, we didn’t make the most of the situations we had. We got a bit in a rush and didn’t finish, didn’t pass the ball, all these kinds of things.”
We wholeheartedly agree. There were some fantastic performances here, with Mané and Luis Diaz standing out in attack. Both full-backs were brilliant, too, with Trent Alexander-Arnold our clear Man of the Match.
Liverpool just weren’t coherent as a team, though. They frequently broke down both backwards and in attack – Klopp himself pointed out how a lack of pressing led to the Fornals chance.
‘Strange’ it was, then. A lot to shout about but a subpar performance. Still, a win against this West Ham side is always something to be proud of – strange or not.
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