WHZ View: Aaron Cresswell exposed defensively in West Ham defeat v Liverpool
West Ham United had an afternoon to forget on Sunday afternoon as they lost 3-1 against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Two goals from Mohamed Salah and one from Gini Wijnaldum sent the champions clear before Craig Dawson scored a consolation.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Hammers who not only saw their winning run end but also their chance to jump into the Champions League spots.
Aaron Cresswell was exposed by the class of Salah.
It is hard to criticise the 31-year-old, who despite being superb all season, couldn’t handle the Egyptian once he turned it on in the second half.
The first goal saw Cresswell allow the winger to cut onto his left foot far too easily.
Salah is clearly world-class, but you can nullify him to a certain extent by keeping him on his right foot and keeping him out wide.
The winger has been kept quiet in recent weeks, and these were his first goals in the Premier League in over a month.
It was down the left where the Irons were exposed for the third goal as well.
Roberto Firmino got onto a flick and had all the time in the world to lay the ball on a plate for Wijnaldum to tap home to seal the points.
By the time that the Brazilian had played a one-two, Cresswell could have busted a lung to stop the return pass but instead remained in no-mans land.
Cresswell has been one of the Irons’ top performers this season.
Most of that praise though has come from his ability on the ball, though, and when playing against the best, he has been exposed defensively.
The 31-year-old did deliver his fifth assist of the season – the most of any player in the entire Irons squad in the Premier League.
The defender must up his defensive game to match his attacking output between now and the end of the season.
In other West Ham United news, these Irons fans react to Michail Antonio display v Reds