LONDON // It is early days yet, but it already feels as though Liverpool’s hopes of mounting another title challenge this season are slipping away.
Defeat to West Ham United was their third in five games and, while they were excellent at winning at Tottenham Hotspur, this looks like a side that has solved none of the defensive issues of last season, while losing the menace of Luis Suarez.
Suarez’s departure to Barcelona, for a fee of £75 million (Dh488m), helped fund a raft of new arrivals and it may be that they will settle in time and gel into something approaching last season’s fluidity.
However, without Daniel Sturridge as well, Liverpool, for all their second-half possession, never looked like recovering from conceding two goals in the opening seven minutes.
The key man, in fact, ended up being a player Liverpool sold at the beginning of last season.
Stewart Downing has been much criticised over the past few years, but shifted from the wing into a central role at the tip of a midfield diamond and was devastating, having a part in all three West Ham goals.
Liverpool have been vulnerable from set-plays almost since Brendan Rodgers took the job and after a Gabriel Agbonlahor goal from a corner undid them against Aston Villa last week, a similar failing cost them again.
This time it was a free kick wide on the right that created the opening, Downing whipping it to the back post, where James Tomkins headed it back across goal for Winston Reid to force over the line.
It was then Downing’s surge five minutes later that led to Diafra Sakho delightfully chipping a leaden-footed Simon Mignolet to make it 2-0.
Liverpool, also playing a diamond, struggled to get any sort of foothold, but after 21 minutes, Rodgers switched to a back three, seemingly reasoning that if West Ham had no attacking width, he had no need to use orthodox full-backs (the theory is one the Argentine coach and theorist Ricardo Lavolpe has explained in some detail).
Within five minutes, the change had made its impact, Raheem Sterling, moved to right wing-back, fired in a first-time shot from just outside the box after Mario Balotelli’s shot had been blocked.
The expectation, perhaps, was of a Liverpool fightback but, while they had chances in the second half, there was never the sort of sustained pressure that might have caused West Ham to buckle.
Three centre-backs with Steven Gerrard sitting just in front was perhaps too much. Adam Lallana, on as a second-half substitute, conjured up a late chance when he fired over for Balotelli, who cut in from the left and forced a low save from goalkeeper Adrian, but West Ham sealed the win with two minutes remaining, when Downing led a breakaway before sliding the perfect pass through for Morgan Amalfitano to add the third.
Liverpool are already six points behind the league leaders, Chelsea, who face Manchester City today.
They are even behind West Ham who, for all their doubters, are eighth and playing attractive football.
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