“All of us felt the impact after the news that we had received because Billy Bonds meant a lot to us as a football club,” revealed Nuno Espírito Santo after his team’s three-match unbeaten run came to an end following second-half goals from Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo either side of Lucas Paquetá’s senseless sending-off.
“Billy was a player, who made almost 800 appearances for West Ham and he was someone who meant so much to the fans, too.
“I don’t think that it affected the team’s performance but we could still feel the general mood around the stadium.”
With nine defeats in a dozen matches, Arne Slot’s spluttering side had arrived in the East End on their worst run of form since 1954 and, although the agile Alphonse Areola made two solid stops to deny Isak and Florian Wirtz, there was still little to choose between either tentative team during the opening 45 minutes.
“We started well and had a couple of moments in the first-half when we managed to get in behind Liverpool,” contended Nuno despite the fact that Anfield ‘keeper Alisson had remained untroubled.
Nuno Espírito Santo wanted his side to do better in honour of Billy Bonds _(Image: Steve Blowers)_
“Although we created some situations, we required more accuracy with our crossing and shooting. We were still in the game and had competed well.”
But on the hour-mark, a long-throw from Joe Gomez led to Wirtz playing in Gakpo, who invited Isak to side-foot home his first Premier League goal for the Reds since his £125 million arrival from Newcastle United in September.
“We were enjoying our best moments of the second-half with some good possession and passing combinations,” grimaced the Hammers head coach, “I thought there might have been some possibilities so it was disappointing to then concede from a throw-in during our best spell.”
Certainly, Nuno’s disappointment was compounded on 84 minutes, when Paquetá’s protests over a free-kick given against substitute Niclas Füllkrug for a foul on Dominik Szoboszlai earned him a booking for dissent.
For reasons only known to himself, the furious Brazilian still continued his vehement verbal volley towards referee Daniel England, who then quickly produced a second yellow card within just seconds of the first.
“It’s hard to play against a team like Liverpool with one man less than them,” continued Nuno after Paquetá had finally departed down the tunnel with the Hammers’ hopes of salvaging anything from the contest now in tatters.
“I’m not going to go any further in talking about the situation because I need to have a private conversation with Lucas to try and understand what has happened. It’s unfair for me to make any comment without having had the chance to speak to him.”
While the Hammers ultimately failed to muster a single shot on target all afternoon, it was left to Gakpo to cement Liverpool’s 2-0 victory with a 10-yarder in additional time.
“We kept fighting until the end but it was disappointing at the finish,” concluded the Portuguese coach, whose 17th-placed side now face a tricky trip to Manchester United on Thursday evening (kick-off 8pm).
“We would’ve liked to have done better today to honour the memory of Billy Bonds but unfortunately it just wasn’t to be.”