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5 takeaways for West Ham’s loss to Liverpool

By Scott Johnson

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United takes his shirt off at full time of the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and West Ham United at Anfield on August 12, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: Marko Arnautovic of West Ham United takes his shirt off at full time of the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and West Ham United at Anfield on August 12, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /
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PRESTON, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Declan Rice of West Ham United during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo b Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)
PRESTON, ENGLAND – JULY 21: Declan Rice of West Ham United during the Pre-Season Friendly between Preston North End and West Ham United at Deepdale on July 21, 2018 in Preston, England. (Photo b Lynne Cameron/Getty Images) /

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Rice still has a lot to learn in defensive midfield

I still think that Rice is going to be a permanent fixture at West Ham for years to come, but his performance at Liverpool showed he does have stuff to learn in defensive midfield. And I back him to push through any difficulties and become a really impressive player. For me he was better than Noble, and only the fact Noble wears the captains armband stopped him getting taken off instead.

I did think it could be considered harsh bringing Rice off at halftime, but I think Pellegrini agrees with me. He knows that he won’t be able to get Noble to change the way he plays very much, if at all. However with Rice he could see that the system wasn’t containing Liverpool, and the youngster wouldn’t learn much chasing shadows. Bringing him off wasn’t harsh, but the best thing to protect the youngster from learning bad lessons.

Must Read. Player Grades after West Ham loss to Liverpool. light

With these 5 lessons there is an underlying theme. Pellegrini will be changing the way we played from last season, and hopefully by the end of the season it will be an unrecognisable system to the one seem last year. But for now we need to give it time and keep on supporting our team the best way possible.