West Ham United were not as bad as the 5-2 scoreline in their defeat to Liverpool on Saturday suggests.
However, the fact is that West Ham’s heavy defeat to Liverpool does leave them in the bottom three of the Premier League table with only ten games to go.
We all love Jarrod Bowen – but is anyone actually undroppable? 🤔
Let us know where YOU stand on what is becoming the great debate – and why!
A graphic asking fans how they would react if West Ham dropped Jarrod Bowen.
Credit: Getty Images/Dan Mullan
While Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were not absolutely dreadful at Anfield, a reasonably good performance does precious little to maintain their Premier League status.
Following a dramatic game, Hammers News tries to make sense of some winners and losers.
Winners
Mateus Fernandes
Mateus Fernandes once again stood on the grandest stage.
Indeed, Fernandes was brilliant for West Ham against Liverpool and looked very comfortable up against a Reds midfield that sauntered to a Premier League title last season.
As per FotMob data, Fernandes won eight of his 12 duels at Anfield. He broke play up while driving forward, while also drawing four fouls.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
Fernandes looks like he belongs at this level.
Mateus Fernandes during Liverpool v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Losers
Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen’s statistics weren’t terrible against Liverpool but anyone who has watched the Hammers captain up close of late would surely admit he’s struggling.
That will surely be down to fatigue more than anything else. For what feels like an age now, Bowen has had to carry this team on his back.
Still, West Ham fans were not impressed with Bowen against Liverpool despite his assist and it would be negligent to overlook his recent performances.
Bowen, by his own high standards, is struggling even despite some of his recent numbers.
Taty Castellanos
Valentin Castellanos scored for West Ham against Liverpool but was also at fault for two of the goals they conceded.
It was his poor marking that allowed Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister to score either side of Virgil van Dijk’s goal as Liverpool ran riot from corners.
Sherwood on Taty 👀 Is he onto something here or has he missed the point entirely? 🤔
Let us know how you feel 👇
A graphic showing Tim Sherwood's quotes on West Ham United forward Taty Castellanos. It reads: "I don't see the merit in him."
Credit: Getty Images/Dan Mullan
Obviously, the fact that Taty isn’t a defender does need to be taken into account. Still, games are won and lost on fine margins, and his inability to mark his men cost West Ham dearly.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno has rightly received a lot of praise in recent weeks following West Ham’s turnaround in form.
The Irons coach, however, got it all wrong at Anfield.
Frankly, questions must be asked of West Ham’s coaching given Fernandes revealed that they’d worked all week to try and build a plan to stop Van Dijk from corners.
If that was a one-off, then perhaps one could point the finger of blame at the players. The fact that Ekitike had already scored following a corner and that the Dutchman had missed a chance himself before finding the back of the net points to a more systemic problem.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox