Liverpool’s set-piece threat was something West Ham United couldn’t solve at Anfield, with Mateusz Fernandez now admitting the visitors targeted Virgil van Dijk before kick-off but still couldn’t stop the damage.
Arne Slaughter’s side beat West Ham United 5-2 in the Premier League on Saturday, with three first-half goals putting us in control of the game, although the advantage came back again in the second half at 3-1 and 4-2.
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Fernandes made it clear in a post-match interview with whufc.com that West Ham felt they were playing an open game but were punished for a game-defining moment against a top team.
“It’s frustrating because I thought we were pretty good overall in the first half,” Fernandez said.
“We conceded three goals from set pieces and these are details you need to pay attention to.”
The 21-year-old midfielder later confirmed the specific names on West Ham’s tactical sheet.
“We tried hard to stop Van Dijk this week because we know how good he is in these situations, but we couldn’t stop them from scoring.”
That statement tells you everything about the Dutch captain’s current influence, as Virgil van Dijk has become more than just a defensive playmaker when the game becomes a dead-ball affair.
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Against West Ham, he once again showed his combination of dominance and timing, scoring a goal and displaying a strong all-round defensive performance.
Virgil van Dijk’s stats at West Ham show why he’s so troublesome
Image via @LFC on X
Here’s what SofaScore said about Virgil van Dijk’s 5-2 win:
These numbers highlight why opponents can prepare for Van Dijk and still find themselves in trouble, as you’re not just contending with a header, but also passes, blocks and the chaos that ensues.
Liverpool’s control still needs to match our scoring
Image via @LFC on X
West Ham did have some quality after the break and Fernandes insisted his side were mentally in the game.
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“But we always believed and going into the second half we knew everything was going to change very quickly,” Fernandez said.
“We scored first, which was good, but then they killed the game.”
The “killing the game” line is interesting from our perspective as it fits in with the wider post-match theme that even if we were winning, Liverpool could still have managed the moment better.
Don Hutchison and Steve Nicol both mentioned Ronnie Moran when criticizing how open the game was after the game ended at 3-1, a reminder that the Champions League will punish sloppy play more severely.
Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves has backed Liverpool to finish in the top five, pointing to experience as the key differentiator in this run-in.
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For now, though, West Ham’s own debriefing from this game confirms the obvious: they tried to take Van Dijk away from set-pieces, while Liverpool still found a way to score important strikes.
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