West Ham United took on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round at Anfield tonight.
Liverpool beat West Ham 5-1 in the end – a scoreline that flattered them in truth, and progressed through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in the process.
Hammers News have compiled our West Ham player ratings from the game up at Anfield, and there were some truly shocking performances on display.
The players didn’t show enough courage in possession or intensity, especially during the second-half.
The West Ham owners are said to be worried about our form right now, and rightly so.
Julen Lopetegui is under real pressure to turn things around, after a really difficult start to the season.
Last night’s 5-1 defeat was yet another chastening wake-up call for the Hammers. Lopetegui and his players need to make big improvements quickly, if they are to salvage this season.
West Ham player ratings vs Liverpool
There were more poor performances than good ones up at Anfield sadly.
It was a tough night for us against Liverpool, as it has been so many times before throughout the years.
Here’s how Hammers News rated all of our players out of 10…
Lukasz Fabianski 4
The 39-year-old was poor against Liverpool, there are no two ways about it. Age has clearly caught up with Fabianski now, and this will surely be his last season at West Ham. The Hammers stopper is far too slow to get down now in my opinion, and he’s not at the levels required to play Premier League football anymore.
Vladimir Coufal 4
The 32-year-old showed why he’s second choice right-back last night. Coufal is far too slow, and he must be a left winger’s dream to play against now. It sounds harsh because the Czech Republic international played such a key role in getting the Hammers back on the map, but we’ve outgrown him now as a club. Coufal should be sold and replaced as soon as possible.
Aaron Cresswell 5
A decent display from the 34-year-old Hammers veteran, but we all know he quite simply doesn’t have the physical attributes needed to play at the very highest level anymore. In fairness to him, he didn’t do too much wrong, and showed his quality on the ball. However, defending against Federico Chiesa and Mo Salah all night was a thankless task.
Max Kilman 6
The £40 million summer signing from Wolves was very strong inside the first-half but like all of his teammates, he definitely tailed off during the second period. Kilman has been our best player this season on the whole, but last night wasn’t his most complete display. Still, he was one of our better performers against Liverpool up at Anfield.
Jean-Clair Todibo 6
I actually thought he looked very comfortable on the ball, and he made some really good interceptions. However, all of the good stuff he did was completely cancelled out with his absolutely woeful defending late on in the game. Todibo completely turned his back on the ball, as Cody Gakpo fired into the back of the net. Not good enough, and it’s little wonder why Lopetegui thinks the Frenchman isn’t ready for Premier League football.
Edson Alvarez 3
A horrendous all-round performance from Alvarez. The 26-year-old was truly terrible, and he gave the ball away far too frequently at Anfield. The Mexican was slow in getting to his man throughout the entire match, and he capped of his shocking performance by picking up a needless red card following a brainless challenge on Mohamed Salah. Alvarez let down his teammates, the gaffer and the fans.
Tomas Soucek 5
A bland performance from the 29-year-old really. Once again he put in the hard yards, but showed minimal quality in possession. That’s the problem with Soucek – he will always give his all but technically, he’s arguably the worst midfielder in the Premier League. I really don’t see how the former Slavia Prague man fits into Lopetegui’s system.
Carlos Soler 5
The Spaniard’s first start for West Ham, so I don’t want to be too critical of him. However, he didn’t look great did he. There are question marks regarding his suitability to the Premier League already, and that’s never a good thing. I must admit, I didn’t like it how he was strolling about at times during the second-half, he really should have shown more fight and hunger.
Crysencio Summerville 6.5
The 22-year-old looked dangerous throughout the entire game against the Reds. His pace and directness out wide on the left wing will be crucial for us this season. Now Lopetegui needs to start him in every single game that he’s available. Summerville could be the player that explodes the Hammers’ season into lfie.
Jarrod Bowen 6.5
A decent performance from our skipper, who worked really hard all night out wide on the right wing. Bowen always gives you 100 per cent effort, and last night was no different. I would have liked him to be more incisive inside the final third but Liverpool were very stubborn defensively, so that’s easier said than done.
Danny Ings 5
Overall, the 32-year-old didn’t really do much, although he was unlucky to have a goal chalked off for being offside. I actually think Ings is now ahead of Michail Antonio in Lopetegui’s centre-forward pecking order, and rightly so.
Subs
Lucas Paqueta 6
The Brazilian looked OK when he came on, but he’s still miles off the levels we all know he can produce. A big performance is needed from him against Brentford on Saturday, and we will see if he’s got the fight we require right now.
Michail Antonio 6.5
The Jamaican actually looked a lot better than he has done recently when he came on at Anfield last night. He was really bright, showed decent pace and real hunger to make things happen.
Andy Irving 6
The Scot is quite simply doing nothing wrong right now when he comes into the team. That’s two substitute appearances now for Irving over the past for days. He looked very accomplished against the Reds for the final 12 minutes and now, I genuinely wouldn’t put it past Lopetegui giving him a start at Brentford.
Mohammed Kudus 5
Far from Kudus’s best game. The Ghanaian tried to make things happen for the Hammers but it just wasn’t to be for him. The ball didn’t stick and he was dispossessed far too easily and too often.
West Ham need to improve, and fast
Big improvements are needed from Lopetegui and his players over the next month or so.
The Hammers face Premier League games against Brentford, Tottenham and Manchester United all before the end of October.
A home clash with Ipswich is sandwiched in amongst all of those matches, and that one is now looking like a must-win game already.
It has been a really slow start to life for Lopetegui at the London Stadium, and the West Ham player ratings from the Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool prove how much work still needs to be done.
It will be fascinating to see whether we get a response from the players away at Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
The Hammers must not lose to the Bees. If we do, Lopetegui really will be feeling the pressure.
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