That Was Exactly What Slot Needed – West Ham 0-2 Liverpool

Liverpool needed calm, not chaos, in east London. As David Lynch put it on his YouTube channel, given the pressure on Arne Slot, he “don’t really think he could have written a better script for this 90 minutes” as Liverpool ran out “two-nil winners against West Ham.”

From that “controlled professional performance” to big calls on Mohamed Salah and the emergence of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, Lynch broke the game down in detail in his post match reaction.

Here are five key takeaways from what he said about Liverpool, West Ham and where this leaves Slot in the Premier League picture.

Controlled win and rare clean sheet

Lynch described it as “a controlled professional performance as Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners against West Ham”, and stressed that it was “a win not just in score line but in terms of the general performance as well that was quite reminiscent of Liverpool at the best last season.”

He highlighted how Liverpool were “completely in control from start to finish” and called it a “completely fussfree win.” The numbers backed it up. As he noted, “West Ham take seven shots and Liverpool nine,” and although that might look balanced, there was a key detail.

“West Ham not a single shot on target in a home game,” he said, calling that “quite an impressive defensive performance in Liverpool.” On the other side, “Liverpool themselves take five shots on target and they generate 1.26 expected goals and West Ham managed just 0.32,” so “on the balance of it, Liverpool absolutely running out deserved winners there.”

What pleased him most was the absence of recent bad habits. “Individual errors in the defensive third, we didn’t see any of those,” which helped Liverpool to “keep what has been a rare clean sheet recently.” He framed this as “a pretty good building block” that “hopefully they can use” as “the foundation for Arne Slot turning this season around.”

He also reminded viewers that despite the poor run, “they’ve been awful recently,” Liverpool are still “three points of third in the Premier League” and that “if you string a few wins together, they will be fully in control of whether they qualify for the Champions League or not.”

Florian Wirtz running the game

The first individual Lynch focused on was, in his words, “a certain Florian Wirtz.” For him, this was “his best performance in the Premier League so far for Liverpool really.” The raw output was modest, “one shot, one chance created, one dribble completed,” and he admitted “they’re not crazy, they’re not absolutely outstanding.”

Even so, he urged viewers to combine “the stats and the eye test.” “Anybody who watched that game will know that Wirtz was very very good,” he said. He felt that “for the time he was on the pitch here, I thought ran the game,” praising “little flicks and tricks, little drops to the shoulder, getting away from his marker, just creating space for others, finding them with little neat passes.”

The passing numbers were key. Lynch pointed out a “95% pass completion, so the most of anyone who played over a half in the game,” and stressed that “he wasn’t playing easy passes either” but “those little cute ones that maybe the defenders didn’t see.”

He underlined Wirtz’s part in Alexander Isak’s goal, noting that “he won’t, for example, get an assist in the numbers for his involvement” but “he was absolutely at the heart of that.” Lynch said he has “never been concerned about Florian Wirtz” and has been “absolutely certain that he will be a success here.” This display felt like “a two fingers up to them” for “anyone who’s doubting that he he won’t make it in the Premier League.”

Crucially, he linked Wirtz’s form to the manager’s prospects. “If we’re talking about things that might be able to save Arnest lot,” he said, “then Florian Wirtz coming into form would be really massively helpful for that I would suggest.”

Alexander Isak’s sublime finish and Salah shock

Lynch put Alexander Isak firmly in the same bracket of importance. “If Alexander Isak is playing well and he’s scoring goals for you, that is how you save a manager’s job,” he argued, “that’s how you make a team better.”

Even though he saw him as “quieter than Florian Wirtz” and “clearly not at his peak fitness yet,” he highlighted that Isak “still manages to get three shots from good positions.” For Lynch, “shot getting is a really kind of important skill for strikers, particularly when you can finish like this guy.”

On the goal itself, he was glowing. “That for me was an absolutely sublime finish,” he said. “That is not an easy finish at all,” with “the ball coming at him” and “bouncing a bit,” yet “the way he just guides it in” showed “real real skill in that finish and real quality.” He reminded viewers that this was “his first Premier League goal for Liverpool” and that “clearly there’s so much more to come from him.”

Then came the big selection story. “Of course, there were some big calls from the manager in this game,” Lynch said, and the most striking was “a player who didn’t play in this game, which of course is Mo Salah.” The official line was rotation, “because Liverpool have got so many games this week,” but Lynch admitted that “for me, that still felt like a massive call from the manager.”

He pointed out that Salah is “going to be off to AFCON soon” and said “you might as well kind of squeeze everything you can out of him before he goes.” Instead, Lynch felt the manager “looked at it and thought how can I put out the best most balanced team that gives me the best chance of winning this football game and that team did not have Muhammad Salah in it.”

He reminded viewers that “the last nine seasons he’s had at Liverpool” you would never have named a team where that was true. Yet right now, “as soon as those” goals and assists “dry up, then you start to have to carry Mo Salah a little bit.” Lynch stopped short of declaring him finished, saying “I don’t buy into that he’s completely finished,” though he was clear that “with his form at the moment, I think this was, you know, the right call from the manager” and that Slot “deserves huge credit because it’s a brave call as well.”

Gomez, Kerkez and the fight for Slot’s future

Lynch also highlighted defensive balance. He felt “it was helpful that Joe Gomez came in and did an excellent job at right back,” listing “two clearances, three interceptions, three recoveries,” and saying “he used the ball well.” In his view, “he’s just a really good footballer, isn’t he,” someone who “brought balance to the side” and can play “right back center half” and “even at left back as well.”

On the left, he praised another big decision, “picking Milos Kirkez.” He acknowledged that “he’s not been perfect this season” and that “he can look a bit kind of rough on the ball at times,” yet insisted that “he’s just a really really good player” who “gives you a lot on the defensive end” and is “very very hard to beat,” with “great energy.”

Lynch felt Liverpool “are starting to get better” at playing to his strengths and that Kirkez “looks a little bit more settled now.” It “would have been so easy again to go back to Robertson,” yet Slot “was right to just kind of keep him in in this period.” For Lynch, “Milos Kirkez is a young player. He just needs a bit of time,” and “we’re starting to see for me the best of him.”

He summed up that “a long long way to go” remains and that he is “not getting carried away in terms of what this all means for Arne Slots future.” The reality, in his words, is simple. The manager “needed a win and he needed a good performance today,” and “that’s just one good performance.” Liverpool “need to go into these next couple of games and do the same,” they “need to play well and they need to win,” and “if they do that the manager can save himself” and get Liverpool “back into a position where they need to be, which is of course in the top four and those Champions League spots.”