A flurry of new signings, but it mattered little as West Ham suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Manuel Pellegrini has brought in nine new faces this summer, but it was always going to be a tough task for his side to go to Anfield and get a result.
Here we rate the Hammers’ players.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1)
Lukasz Fabianski – 8: Probably assumed he’d be busy and was. A superb one-handed stop denied Salah. Wasn’t helped by his defence for the second.
Ryan Fredericks – 5: Signed from Fulham this summer and offered plenty going forward. Struggled to contain Mane and Robertson, but who wouldn’t. Lost Sturridge for the fourth.
Angelo Ogbonna – 6: Offered some resistance to the Liverpool swarm and tried to impact proceedings in the opposing box.
Fabian Balbuena – 3: The newly-arrived Uruguayan struggled badly on debut. Was booked and later perhaps lucky not to get a second. Led his team with seven clearances.
Arthur Masuaku – 4: Joint-high four tackles for the Hammers. Dispossessed twice. Overrun by rampaging Salah and Firmino.
Mark Noble – 4: A midfield three of Noble (31), a declining Wilshere and teenager Rice was asking for trouble away from home … at Liverpool. What was Pellegrini thinking? Overrun.
Declan Rice – 5: Tough place for a 19-year-old to stamp authority on proceedings. Pass accuracy of 91.7 but replaced by Snodgrass at the break.
Jack Wilshere – 5: Was neat and tidy in midfield but couldn’t spark anything. Biggest contribution was blocking Milner’s effort in a painful area.
Michail Antonio – 3: Unlucky to see yellow for slipping and colliding with Alexander-Arnold. Anonymous outing, 53.9 per cent pass accuracy was woeful.
Felipe Anderson – 7: A bright debut from the Brazilian. West Ham’s best player so it was a surprise when he was hauled off.
Marko Arnautovic – 5: Felt any chances falling his way would need taking. He had two glimpses of goal and wasted them.
SUBS:
Robert Snodgrass – 6: Injected impetus into a flat West Ham attack, poking and probing.
Javier Hernandez – 5: As an ex-Man United player got booed at every touch, which wasn’t many.
Andriy Yarmolenko – 6: Tried to get Hammers moving. Looks like he’ll be a sound addition.
