Has Klopp made a difference? 5 things from West Ham 2-0 Liverpool

1. Different manager, same outcome against West Ham

Liverpool have shown encouraging signs on occasions since Jurgen Klopp took over in October, but all too often it has been interspersed with results like this one against West Ham United.

It's been a constant case of one step forward, one step back for the Reds, who triumphed in both of their fixtures over the Christmas period but have still not won three in a row under Klopp.

Interestingly, Liverpool took 12 points from their first eight matches of the season under Brendan Rodgers, at 1.5 points per game. Now they have taken 18 points from 12 fixtures under Klopp, again at 1.5 points per game.

It will take time for Klopp to change things, of course it will. There are reasonable arguments that the squad he currently has to work with is simply not good enough - Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson were both missing, and the bench was worryingly threadbare.

It should not be forgotten either that Klopp has guided Liverpool to the semi-final of the Capital One Cup after a stunning 6-1 win at Southampton. But such is the German's reputation, perhaps more was expected in the league so far.

Liverpool's 3-0 home loss to West Ham early in the season was seen as symbolic of the club's malaise under Rodgers, but they weren't a great deal better in this reverse fixture as the Hammers completed their first double over the Reds since the 1963/64 campaign.

West Ham 'parked the bus but didn't put the handbrake on' at Anfield, as Slaven Bilic described it. They were content to sit back, let Liverpool have possession and then counter attack with great effect. They did pretty much the same at Upton Park.

Liverpool had 65 per cent possession, completing 391 passes to the Hammers' 187 - more than twice as many. They completed three times as many passes in the final third, 159 to 52. But while West Ham looked a real threat going forward, Liverpool could not make their possession count.

2. Hammers still better in front of goal

Rodgers' Liverpool created 12 chances to West Ham's six at Anfield, but they managed to get only one shot on target from 13 attempts.

They were pretty woeful in front of goal again here - creating 20 chances to West Ham's 13, but only two of their 23 shots were on target.

In contrast, the Hammers got 10 of their 18 attempts on target. At Anfield they were similarly effective, getting 5 on target from 12 shots.

Liverpool have scored 14 goals in Klopp's 12 league matches in charge, only marginally better than their tally of eight goals in their eight games under Rodgers.

3. Carroll outshone Benteke

Christian Benteke may have scored the winner in the Reds' previous two games but he was poor at Upton Park and was completely outshone by West Ham target man Andy Carroll at the other end.

Once a failure at Liverpool, Carroll headed home West Ham's second goal on his 150th Premier League appearance and got all five of his attempts on target. In contrast, all five of Benteke's efforts were off target.

"You're just a s*** Andy Carroll," West Ham fans sung at Benteke.

Slaven Bilic was full of praise for Carroll. "I thought he was brilliant," said the Hammers boss, whose side's seven-match unbeaten run is the longest in the Premier League. "Not because of the goal but because of his performance, everything - defending, holding the ball up, every ball Adrian hit up, he held it or flicked it.

"Then he defended. He was tracking back to Lucas and Can, and when he had a chance to press Lovren and Sakho he was there. Now he's fit and it's all about him now. Is he going to look after himself, work hard, train and rest to maintain this fitness or even make it better? Only then will he become a great asset for us. It's up to him."

Carroll won eight of his 13 aerial duels, while Benteke won only two of 12. The Belgian scored two goals in six games under Rodgers, the man who signed him, and has netted five in 14 under Klopp - only a marginally better ratio.

4. Collins put Liverpool's defence to shame

Klopp could not hide his frustration after this game and one of the things he was most disappointed about was the fact that his players allowed West Ham to put crosses into the box at will, with both goals coming from centres from the right flank. The manager insisted his team must be better defensively, and that it should not be seen as an unwanted part of the game.

"I don't want to use the term nasty or ugly about defending," he said. "It's a nice part of the game. I was a defender. If you know in the other team you have Andy Carroll, how can you allow crosses? We have to defend the crosses, then we can play football. It's our fault. I want to say more but my English is not good enough for all the information going around in my head at the moment. I said to the players after the game: 'summary, not enough'. If you fight 95 per cent, it's not enough."

Klopp was frustrated too with the manner of the first goal, believing that Alberto Moreno was fouled on West Ham's byline, but unhappy that his team allowed the hosts to advance the full length of the field after that. The German admitted he hadn't realised that the goalscorer Michail Antonio was also the man who had made the tackle on Moreno, darting to the other end to head home.

Liverpool have now conceded 14 in 12 league games under Klopp, compared to 10 in eight under Rodgers - only a minimal difference.

West Ham blocked an incredible 13 shots to Liverpool's three in this game, while James Collins was outstanding in central defence with 17 clearances - 13 more than Mamadou Sakho, who made the most for the visitors.

Bilic admitted the duel with target man Benteke suited Collins. "If you are playing long balls it's better for him because he's very dominant there," the Croatian said. "But every game is the game for him. He's a great centre half who is in the form of his life."

5. Liverpool didn't even win pressing battle

Bilic mentioned Carroll's willingness to press from the front and West Ham did that well as a team. Klopp's footballing philosophy famously centres around pressing, or 'gegenpress' as it was known in Germany, but Liverpool didn't win that battle either at Upton Park.

Just as at Anfield under Rodgers, West Ham dominated the stats. They made 27 interceptions to Liverpool's 14, as well as completing 21 tackles to the Reds' 17 and making 54 ball recoveries to 52.

Klopp has clearly not got Liverpool playing exactly how he wants them to just yet. Until he does, things could continue to be difficult for the Reds.

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