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It was yet another frustrating fixture between Liverpool and West Ham in the fourth round of the FA Cup as it ended in a goalless draw. The teams now will have a replay of a match to determine who goes through to the next round of competition.Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp played a youthful side with the likes of Joao-Carlos Teixeira, Brad Smith, Kevin Stewart and Steven Caulker who had never started a Premier League match. The youngsters were very impressive and pressed hard, however failed to get a goal- thanks to West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph.Darren Randolph, who played instead of usual West Ham goalkeeper Adrain, was the man of the match while youngster Cameron Brannagan was Liverpool’s best player.Here are the five talking points from the match.
#1 Benteke abysmal again
After last night’s performance, there’s no doubt that Christian Benteke is badly struggling. Always felt that Benteke was more of a substitute player than a player who starts, but with this injury-hit Liverpool squad and with the number of matches they’re playing, Benteke was the only attack option to start.
However, he had a horribly poor game and frustrated Liverpool fans all around. He didn’t step up as a senior player is supposed to and wasn’t even close to getting the much-needed goal the team required. He certainly has his moments once in a while but looked completely abysmal.
He could’ve easily looked at the younger lot to follow performance wise. In all honesty, right now he is offering no more than Mario Balotelli did.
#2 Liverpool youngsters so impressive
Jurgen Klopp played a youthful side with players like Joao-Carlos Teixeira, Brad Smith, Steven Caulker, Cameron Brannagan and Kevin Stewart who all were very impressive. The team was a combination of inexperienced and experienced players in which the former did better.The youngsters played very well but just failed to score a goal.
Cameron Brannagan, 19, came close to scoring when he confidently made a strike 20-yards away but was stopped by Darren Randolph.
Brad Smith, 21, was brilliant in the defence and did really well to keep Victor Moses from being a threat. He also went forward quickly when his team was attacking.
Kevin Stewart, 22, worked hard in the midfield and made six tackles and two interceptions. Teixeira, 23, made two attempts at goal but was denied by Randolph.
#3 Jordon Ibes poor run continues
Jordon Ibe had another performance which showed his struggle. He was very poor and slowed the game down every time he received the ball. He had no pace and looked quite lazy- a sign of being out of form. Ibe has been very straight forward as of late. Sometimes he keeps the ball for too long, and ends up doing nothing with it.
His final delivery is extremely poor as well. His decision-making has also been poor and definitely needs to get better at that. Definitely needed more from him in the match. If his current form continues, perhaps the player he was substituted with, Sheyi Ojo, could/should replace him in the first team.
Ibe had a brilliant start under Jurgen Klopp and had the manager very impressed with him. Klopp still shows faith in Ibe but it’s quite evident that Ibe is under very poor form currently.
#4 Darren Randolphs goalkeeping success
Randolph came in place of regular West Ham goalkeeper Adrian as the Spanish player had gone back to his home city of Seville for family reasons. Randolph was the man of the match as he made some great efforts to stop Teixeira’s two shots and a great save to stop Brannagan’s attempt in the first half.
He was absolutely pivotal in last night’s draw and if not for him, Liverpool would have definitely found a way to have not taken the match to a replay. West Ham struggled to test Liverpool with crosses as that’s something Liverpool were struggling with. For all the mistakes his team made, that performance by Randolph compensated for everything and West Ham’s loss avoidance and replay is credited to Randolph.
#5 West Ham got the job done
West Ham although probably didn’t prefer a draw and a replay didn’t seem to be as upset with the replay as was Jurgen Klopp. They, however, did a good job in preventing Liverpool from scoring and in that way, got the job done. As would be obvious, they’d take a replay over a loss any day.
West Ham will look at this draw as a wasted opportunity since they played a more experienced side than Liverpool but it was Liverpool who played better. They struggled to get shots on target but was saved frequently by their goalkeeper Darren Randolph.
However, having taken the replay to Upton Park, it’s a good result for them. The fact that they’ll play in front of their own fans gives them an advantage. The replay will take place on 9th February.
