West Ham United were really poor against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Anfield tonight.
The first-half of the Carabao Cup tie was shambolic, and Liverpool led West Ham 1-0 at the break – a score-line that actually flattered us.
Nothing changed in the second-half and it was very much a wasted trip for the 6,000 fans who traveled up to Merseyside from East London to watch the game.
Hammers boss David Moyes made six changes before the game, and every single one of the players who came into the side failed to impress.
The likes of Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma and Ben Johnson proved exactly why they’ve been warming the bench for the majority of the season. They looked disinterested at Anfield and showed absolutely no courage or commitment.
One of the players who really disappointed tonight was Konstantinos Mavropanos – a £17 million signing from Stuttgart in the summer transfer window.
The 26-year-old has put a few decent performances in for West Ham this season, against the likes of TSC Backa Topola, Olympiacos and Freiburg in the Europa League and Lincoln City and Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. However, he’s looked extremely shaky at times as well, including his displays away at Brentford and Fulham and at home against Crystal Palace.
And the towering Greece international really wasn’t good enough against Liverpool tonight…
West Ham defender puts in poor performance against Liverpool
Mavropanos was run ragged by Liverpool’s front three tonight.
The centre-back looked slow and sluggish when the ball was played over the top, weak in the challenge and he seemed like a nervous wreck with the ball at his feet.
Dinos failed to make a single tackle, interception or block tonight, although he did make 13 clearances, but that was just him hoofing the ball up the pitch. He averaged just a 75% completion rate from 32 attempted passes – really poor numbers for a centre-back (Who Scored).
I watched him play for Stuttgart over the past couple of seasons, and he seemed like a very decent defender indeed.
So maybe it’s too early to pass judgement on the former Arsenal defender. He has shown us glimpses of what he’s truly capable of after all.
On paper, he should be perfectly suited to the Premier League, what with his powerful physical attributes and his towering height.
His display for West Ham against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup was a huge worry as far as I’m concerned though.
All that remains to be seen now is whether Mavropanos is still settling into life at the club or if we’ve just bought a dud.
I’m hoping that it’s the former.
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