Last night's Premier League fixture between Liverpool and West Ham United did not impress. The disinterested atmosphere seemed to diffuse from the stands, showing rare empty seats at Anfield, to the pitch where a lacklustre game ensued. Two of Liverpool's goals came from set pieces, where dire defending was more prominent than attacking prowess: Yossi Benayoun chested the ball in of the post after West Hams defence missed Gerrard's delivery and again in the second half another Gerrard free kick go the better of the Hammers when Sotirios Kyrgiakos managed to get a toe on the ball despite having a defender on either side of him and it rebounded of the post for Robert Green to knock it back into his own net. He won't want Capello to see that.
The brighest moment came when Yossi Benayoun drifted off the left toutch line and found Maxi on the right flank who took a toutch before sending a low cross in for David N'gog to half-volley his finish. Nice, but again Robert Green should have done better.
Aside from the three goals there was very little excitement. West Ham never pressured the ball or showed any imagination, while Liverpool were content to pass the ball sideways at every opportunity, presumably saving their ideas and energy for Thursdays Europa League semi-final in Madrid or sidetracked by today's epic journey to the Spanish Capital. The game therefore had the feel of an end of season testimonial rather than a Premier League match between two teams desperately in need of points.
This raises the question, why on earth did West ham take such a negative approach and why didn't they turn up? They certainly do have players capable of playing good football and scoring goals and with their current situation they ought to have plenty of motivation. Even if they did intend to grind out a draw through being well organised and difficult to break down (which would be ridiculous as those are two things that West Ham haven't been all season), there was no point in sitting back when trailing by two and three goals. The worst that could happen by attempting to attack and play football would be a damaged goal difference, which won't matter if they are behind Hull on points at the end of the season. West Ham looked like a team expecting relegation - which they really shouldn't because they are still three points above the drop zone. David Sullivan's message to the fans last month now seems even more appropriate.
Liverpool may have won the game and saved energy but with the spectacle they produced, they may as well have played behind closed doors and saved us all the bother.
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