Liverpool 4-0 West Ham: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis, Premier League 2018/19

#3 West Ham could have switched their personnel around

Marko Arnautovic cut an isolated figure for the large part of the game

It has been established already that maybe, Manuel Pellegrini set his team up to be a little too respectful of the opponents on the day, but even in that setup, it was a weird way to use his players.

Given that West Ham's method seemed to be hit the ball long at every opportunity possible, it was not really the wisest move to play Marko Arnautovic through the middle, especially when Michail Antonio also had a place in the starting XI.

Joe Gomez was making a rare competitive appearance at centre-back for the Reds, and over last season, his weakness in dealing with long balls was well-documented. So it might have been interesting if Antonio had started through the middle, and imposed his physicality on Gomez.

Maybe Pellegrini was concerned by Arnautovic's lack of running on the ball, and hence didn't play him out wide against the Reds' prowess on the flanks. But even though Antonio started on the right-wing, it didn't make a huge difference. Andy Robertson got forward at will, and his crosses set up both of Liverpool's first-half goals.

It's only the first game, and with the number of new signings, West Ham will evolve with time, but on the day, maybe their manager could have done things a little more different than he did.