LONDON -- Credit where it's due, Julen Lopetegui did at least try something different in the hope it might stop Mohamed Salah. West Ham approached the planet's best player on current form with at least a best guess at what might be required. They had their plan. It did nothing to stop the repeated punches to the face.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka switched to left back, one of the Premier League's best right-footed defenders set up to meet Salah's darts infield? Ok, tempting. Nominal left winger Emerson tasked with following Trent Alexander-Arnold wherever he might go? Hmmm. A man-marking job on Ryan Gravenberch, who'll hardly see the ball in the early exchanges? You have my attention, Julen.
Just a question, though. How are you going to attack? The last few weeks have shown that Liverpool are far from invulnerable even with Virgil van Dijk at his best level. A bit more conservatism from Arne Slot in how his fullbacks have been deployed hasn't fixed the issues that have bubbled away for years. You could feel those vulnerabilities inside the first six minutes. Andy Robertson's pocket was picked by Mohamed Kudus and moments later Lucas Paqueta was slipping just as a Jarrod Bowen cross found him at the back post.
Liverpool might have been there to be got at again. We will never know. Lopetegui spent so long mitigating for what Liverpool might do that it seemed his considerations for what his team could do scarcely got beyond Kudus doing something out of the ordinary (which he did more than once). Beyond him, West Ham had nothing to test Liverpool. Didn't the visitors know it?
Meanwhile, it didn't really matter what the hosts had planned to nullify Salah. He'd find a solution. If Wan-Bissaka wanted to close the inside to him he'd hang behind at the back post, nearly poking home Cody Gakpo's cross early on. Or he could drop a little deeper and turn provider, a precise pass for Curtis Jones that was well denied by Alphonse Areola, whose resistance could only last so long.
Luis Diaz would break the deficit with half an hour played, making his own fortune when a driving run at the defense saw an attempted pass bounce back into his pass, and that only seemed to create further fear in the home rearguard. If they couldn't hold back the other guys, what would they do when Salah really started cooking?
West Ham could have stuck another three men on him. They could have rotationally kicked him around the field. It wouldn't really have mattered. The best player in the world is gonna best player in the world sometimes. A brilliant flick of the heel with his back to goal left Konstantinos Mavropanos trying a penalty-conceding foul Salah was strong enough to shake off, the ball rolling for Gakpo to double the lead. By the half, it was three. Carlos Soler ran into trouble, what else could he do given the paucity of options ahead of him. Alexis Mac Allister nicked the ball, Jones cycled it to Salah, a low drive at the near post and another 20-goal season in the bag before the new year.
Salah wasn't done. He ended this game playing for his own amusement, bending a shot at Areola that he might have concluded was too easy for him, ending the rout with an elegant dart through midfield and through ball for Diogo Jota. Expect to see clips from tonight in the autumn of 2025. The Ballon d'Or has got his name penciled on it.
Changes had come at the break from Lopetegui that offered some impetus. Those above him ought to be mulling a similar approach at the halfway mark of the season. The talent is there for this coach to do more than deliver a side with the worst non-penalty expected goal difference of any non-promoted team. If his gameplan was going to work it would have to have been carried out by players with fitness, discipline and energy that West Ham have not once showed against top opposition this season. Whatever your ideas, if there is no sign that your players can put them into action, then you are in trouble.
Perhaps there was no silver bullet for any manager on Sunday. Liverpool look to have taken a step up in tandem with their best player in recent weeks. When they are this good, only the very best sides can gameplan for Slot's men. Even then, they are going to have to hope that Salah isn't in a mood as unstoppable as this.
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