Daniel’s Debrief: Liverpool 5-1 West Ham

If I can ask something of you, it is to forget about Erling Haaland for a moment. 

Now, that’s not easy, because he’s just scored his 100th Manchester City goal and his name is synonymous with the practice of goal scoring in the current football climate.

But, in a world where Erling Haaland didn’t exist, I could label Diogo Jota as the best striker in the country with plenty of validity.

As it is, Haaland’s presence means that Jota can’t really be thought of as the league’s premier marksman, but he’s firmly at number two for me.

What a finisher. He’s a player that defines the phrase ‘plug-in-and-play’ for me; he’s obviously best deployed as a central striker but you can play him on the left, right or even as a deeper second striker as he is tonight, and know that he’ll give you a consistent standard of performance. 

You can drop him into any type of game, up against any kind of opposition, and know that he’ll be able to cope.

I actually think that he’s one of the very few players that would be just as effective in 2024 as he would’ve been in 1974 - his game is so transferable to any position, game, scenario and even era because of his variety of skills and adaptability.

Even tonight, his two goals couldn’t be more different.

For the first, he capitalises on a scrappy shot from Federico Chiesa. It’s instinctive and it’s athletic as he rises higher than Max Kilman - 15cm taller than him, by the way - to prod home for the leveller. 

Of course, this is a goal which actually starts with Jota and a quick-one two with Darwin Nunez.

He used to just be a pure goalscorer but he’s developed the other elements of his game so much in the last two seasons and is now a creative and versatile footballer.

The second goal is a subtle, delicate finish, stroked home with his right foot.

They are wildly different goals, scored by the same player, and both have major importance in Liverpool winning the game. Jota would’ve backed himself to get a third and so would I, but Arne Slot takes him off at 2-1 knowing that there are far more important matches on the horizon.

And so the mantle is taken over by Cody Gakpo, whose last two midweek starts have been absolutely excellent.

Tonight, I love his dynamism and his adventure on that left flank. He is always looking for work and he uses his considerable pace - which hasn’t always been evident - really well.

Vladimir Coufal has a really tough night up against him and he finishes it by cutting in on his right foot and unleashes two similar shots, which find their way into the near and far post corners respectively.

This is the player we saw at the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.

Gakpo is a player who I’m starting to think we could’ve got a lot more out of had he not spent so much of the last 18 months in the middle or even in midfield.

He’s a left-winger, and a pretty good one.

I think the midfield pivot duo largely due really well. Curtis Jones doesn’t have the best first half and could be a bit braver and even more accurate with it, but turns it on in the second half and finishes the game really strongly.

It’s his superb work with the ball that sets up Jota’s second goal. His dribbling and close control is among the very best in the Liverpool team at times.

I love watching him in full flow. The way he has the ball almost glued to his feet, and then to play the most subtle and deft pass through the line to Jota was like watching Steve McManaman.

He’s a gloriously talented footballer and I really think he’s any manager’s dreams because his skill set is so broad: he has just about everything except searing pace.

Next to him, it’s a good return to the team for Wataru Endo. Perhaps he could clear the ball more accurately for the Jarell Quansah own goal but other than that he’s really solid.

And that’s what he is. He’s been deemed not good enough stylistically to be the first-choice number six but whenever he is needed to come in, he’ll be perfectly serviceable because his anticipation and reading of the game is of a very high standard.

Once again, Caoimhin Kelleher lets nobody down and makes some good saves during West Ham’s best spell of the game at 2-1.

They’re a bit more dangerous when Michail Antonio comes on and Cryscencio Summerville has a lively first half as well. 

But, as much as Julen Lopetegui is an esteemed manager both in England and in Europe, he doesn’t seem like a great fit to this West Ham squad and their early struggles in the league have now been compounded by a heavy loss.

They may feel that they were harshly done by with a few penalty shouts, but accumulation is not how to referee these incidents and to that effect, Andy Madley does a good job.

Lopetegui will probably be one of the first managers gone and it’s not through a lack of managerial ability, but West Ham fans recently hounded out the best manager their club has had in fifty years, and already fans are starting to wonder what the club have done.

This is obviously our manager’s first foray into this competition and a lot of the dialogue in the build-up to the game was how interested he would be in it, and what his team selection may look like.

He makes nine changes from the weekend’s game, so it’s easy to begin a narrative that he isn’t too bothered about it, but when you name a bench that features Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, you’re wanting to win the tie and go through.

And the sub performances of Mac Allister and Salah just absolutely ooze class. They both come onto the pitch and spray some of their stardust to help make the win more comfortable.

Salah produces a good first-time finish, and I think he really enjoys playing with a full-back that overlaps and underlaps.

And Mac Allister’s passing is breathtaking at times, his ability to find a weight of pass so accurately and so consistently makes him one of Liverpool’s most important players.

For the likes of Gakpo, Nunez, Kelleher and Jones, they know they probably won’t be in the team on Saturday but when - not if - they are needed, Slot knows he has dependable and fabulous footballers waiting in the wings.

Quite a few of tonight’s team could well get used against Bologna next week, with two tough away league games bookending the next ten days.

And he’s willing to do whatever he sees fit to win this game tonight. Not only does he name an ultra-strong bench but he also resists the urge to start Trey Nyoni or Tyler Morton; the latter coming on late in the game but the former not featuring in the squad, with the bench one of seniority and world-class talent.

He also mixes up the system slightly, with Jota playing as a second striker off Nunez. What this does is give Liverpool another outlet to be creative and an extra potential route to making chances. 

In early League Cup games, which can sometimes feel like a bit of a chore, the manager’s approach often defines the life of the match. 

You almost feel like you need something to get excited by, to remember the game by.

For many, that tonight will be the goals, or the individual performances.

But for me, it’s Kostas Tsimikas’ insane diving header. What is going through his head there?

Daniel