Van Dijk singles out two West Ham stars for praise
It’s fair to say that most of us were pleasantly surprised by the valiant, battling effort West Ham United put up against Liverpool on Monday night.
The Hammers looked a side transformed from the meek effort they gave at the Etihad Stadium the previous week.
Although they ultimately fell 3-2 to the Liverpool juggernaut – like everybody else in England – there were some real positive signs for manager David Moyes.
Whether the east London outfit can take those positives and turn them into tangible results remains to be seen.
But it’s safe to say that they won over a few people with their efforts at Anfield, including a Liverpool superstar.
Yes, centre back Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman was impressed by the quality of the set-pieces delivered by Irons stars Robert Snodgrass and Felipe Anderson on Monday.
“Today the first was a set-piece, we should look at it but they are good at set-pieces, they have two fantastic guys who deliver the ball wherever they want and unlucky Ali[sson] couldn’t save us there,” he said, as per the Evening Standard.
“And the second goal, I should maybe have got a bit tighter. It was a good cross, but at the end of the day it is about getting the result.”
How good were the deliveries on Monday?
They were excellent, particularly from Snodgrass. The former Scotland international has always had that in his locker, and it can give any team problems.
The corner that he whipped in for Issa Diop’s goal was exceptional, hard and fast toward the near post, where the Frenchman got ahead to nod in past Alisson.
Anderson wasn’t quite as good and, truth be told, his deliveries were probably the best aspect of his performance.
Snodgrass has kicked into gear over the past month or so. Hopefully he keeps up his fine form for the remainder of the campaign.
In other West Ham news, the reason for Arthur Masukau’s absence from the Liverpool clash has been explained.