Liverpool delivered an uneasy, stomach-turning performance to put everyone inside Anfield through the motions against West Ham, but got the job done.
Liverpool 2-1 West Ham
Premier League (32) | AnfieldApril 13, 2024
Goals: Diaz 18′, Van Dijk 89′ | Robertson (OG) 86′
1. Salah leads but others must follow
During the opening stages Jamie Carragher lauded Mo Salah on commentary, saying the Egyptian was playing “like he’s in training, trying things”, and he was right.
Salah took to the game like a man who was not only buoyed by his new eye-watering contract, but also keen to prove he absolutely deserves it.
It’s a characteristic that underpins Salah. He always wants to be the best, wants to prove he can do more than his marker, wants to blot the final bit of ink on the page that concludes another Liverpool win.
Here he was lively and threatening, with his movement and incisive through-ball to Luis Diaz just majestic. Liverpool have played a blinder in getting Salah nailed down to new terms, while also ensuring a hefty portion of his new contract is incentive-based. There is no doubting that the Reds will be coughing up insane money… because Salah will be hitting those incentives.
The issue Liverpool now face however is getting the team to fire even as Salah falters. In the second half the Egyptian, like his team-mates, went off the boil. Legs are heavy at this point in the long season, but others have to step up to the plate.
Sadio Mane did it so well and eased the burden on Liverpool’s No.11, and now it’s time for others to follow this lead.
2. Alisson is the world’s best, but he’s being let down
Nothing against Caoimhin Kelleher, who remains a superb option for Liverpool and talented beyond his years – but here Alisson once again proved he is the best stopper in the game.
We all too often take it for granted, but Alisson pulls off saves that most keepers just wouldn’t entertain. As the Reds started to get leggy in the second half, Alisson was there time and time again, bearing down on the confident Jarrod Bowen to beat balls away, while screaming at his lacklustre back line.
And then, just as it felt like it was coming, the own-goal trickled through in the most pathetic of circumstances. Liverpool cannot keep riding their luck in this way, hoping Alisson will bail them out while gradually offering less and less.
The second half understandably riled up Arne Slot, who could sense the fixture slipping away from his men. Alisson remains a constant, a god-send. Virgil van Dijk will gain a portion of the headlines for salvaging something at the death, but here a Brazilian goalkeeper showed 62,000 what an elite level performance looks like.
3. Arne Slot is a different breed
Back in the summer, had you given any manager the hypothetical situation that they would take over Jurgen Klopp and surge Liverpool straight to the title, they’d likely have been giddy at the prospect, potentially punch-drunk on an instant ego-kick.
Not Slot. Make no mistake, the Dutchman desperately wants this season to end with Liverpool being crowned champions of England, but the way he’s going about it and holding himself throughout proceedings speaks major volumes.
Prowling the touchline, constantly demanding, endlessly tinkering and easing his players into new openings. Slot isn’t seeing this as a shot-in-the-arm thrill of a runaway season, but rather the beginning of crafting a football team into a seriously destructive machine. His reaction after Van Dijk nodded the winner said it all – violently punching the air before immediately barking out the command of focus, tapping his temple repeatedly.
Slot demands the best because he’s both a highly intelligent man, and obsessed with football. The latter part is rather prescient, as it has never been lost on the Reds boss that he has been bestowed one of the best and most versatile squads in world football.
It will be added to in the summer, and needs to be given the manner in which Liverpool are tailing off in matches. But Slot wants this, badly, and these three points will mean everything.
4. Transfer audition?
The contract extension of Salah was the one thing all Kopite’s craved and, though Liverpool got it done, they still remain a very pro-active club. And that means planning for tomorrow is always in progress.
Salah’s succession plan is a big point of focus in the inner sanctum of the Anfield war-room, and targets are constantly being drawn up and analysed. One of which is most certainly an athlete who was on show in the form of Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghanaian was tracked by Liverpool prior to his switch to the Premier League, and has now very much proven he can cut the mustard in the English top flight. His tantalising lob mid-way through the first half, which almost caught Alisson unawares and clipped the crossbar, was a timely reminder of both his technique and vision.
Kudus, at 24, is a serious footballer with an accomplished skill-set who has many more years of elite level coaching ahead of him to make him into an even better and more refined final product. Given speculation over the future of Luis Diaz never seems to go away, perhaps the name of Kudus could be on the lips of Liverpool fans again sooner rather than later.
5. Anfield remembers its role
Whether people like it or not, in recent weeks Anfield has not played its part. The famous ground has been uncharacteristically subdued, reluctant to burst into life in customary fashion.
It happens, of course, an atmospheric lull, during the run of a season… but when Liverpool are gunning for a Premier League title this simply has to be present during the run-in, no excuses.
And thankfully, it was. As Liverpool ploughed forward, the roars came. Descending down from the top of the Kop before rolling to the bottom and crashing over onto the pitch; a wall of noise demanding the troops in red go pedal to the medal and inflict misery upon the visitors.
It was needed, given the second half demise and the manner in which the Reds stood on the cusp of throwing this one away. The stands were full of nerves, no doubt, but the supporters rallied behind the cause and dragged the players over the line.
This is high stakes and this is history in real-time. Liverpool needed nine points to clinch the league title going into this fixture; that figure is now six. The perch is ready to be climbed atop once more, and this Liverpool team fully deserve it – but Anfield needs to continue playing its role in getting them there.
Liverpool 2-1 West Ham
