It’s difficult to know where to start on the negatives from this game, so let’s start with the positives.

There were four – Quashie, Reo Coker, Yossi and Kepa Blanco. Quashie and Reo Coker were the only two reasons we weren’t completely overran in the first half. Quashie’s first touch has improved and he and Reo Coker put in real battling performances. Yossi was all over the pitch and although he gave the ball away too much he is getting back to his best. For Kepa Blanco to score within two minutes of his debut was the biggest plus point from this game. But what’s the betting that Curbishley doesn’t start with him on Saturday? He and Bobby looked very sharp, with Bobby doing a great job of holding the ball up, something Cole and Harewood had failed to do for the previous hour.

It was astonishing that we were not behind at half time. Liverpool had not had a single shot on goal despite playing some super football and dominating possession. To their credit, the defence coped reasonably well with them but Carroll looked as shaky as ever. I am not a fan of Carroll’s but I was horrified to hear the crowd stary singing ‘There’s only on Robert Green’. Imagine what that did for Carroll’s confidence. Similarly, the shout of ‘One Alan Pardew’ was hardly appropriate (although I agree with the sentiment behind it).

We only ever looked dangerous when we upped the tempo. If you play at Liverpool’s speed you know what you can expect. The trouble is that Curbishley has sucked the flair from this team. He is clearly not a man motivator.

And now for the marks…

Carroll – 6 – One great save, otherwise shaky and lacking confidence
Dailly – 6 – Distinctly average
Davenport – 7 – Powerful at times. Liked his berating of Carroll. Showed passion and good going forward
Spector – 6 – Unremarkable
McCartney – 6 – Ditto
Boa Morte – 4 – Overweight, lethargic, did nothing down thw wing at all
Quashie – 7 – Strong, sprayed passes, held it all together
Reo Coker – 7 – Rediscovered his passion. Improved as the game went on
Benayoun – 7 – Ran his heart out
Cole – 4 – Crap at holding the ball up. Failed to win headers ad not a single shot
Harewood – 5 – Largely anonymous

Curbishley needs to bring in Mark Noble in place of Boa Morte if all Boa Morte is going to do is play centrally. And on Saturday I hope he starts with Zamora and Blanco up front.

It is sometimes best to write about a match the day after it to avoid unnecessary hyperbole and swearing. But f*** me, is there a worse player in the Premiership than Luis Boa f***ing Morte? I wasn’t impressed when we signed him, and I am even less so now.For a left winger he seems to spend remarkably little time on the wing, leaving to to George McCartney to get to the byline. McCartney may be many things, but a winger he ain’t. Boa Morte does not compensate for Etherington’s weaknesses and provides none of his strengths. And to think we paid £5 million for him and Matty may be sold today for less than half that is some sort of sick joke.

To be honest, I couldn’t face writing this until now. Up to now I have always thought it would all come right in the end. Now I am not so sure. Today’s team selection said it all – totally unimaginative. A team devoid of flair. A team which could have played for Charlton Athletic. Yes, it was really that bad. I fear that Alan Curbishley is putting together a team of journeymen who couldn’t light up a Christmas tree, let alone display some ingenuity. This game has raised some important questions:-

1. Just what has Robert Green done to be dropped?
2. Just what has Roy Carroll done to deserve a run in the team?
3. Why on earth was Shaun Newton in the side?
4. After his performance against Brighton why on earth was Mark Noble not even on the bench?
5. Why on earth did we pay £5 million for Boa Morte?

I could come up with another twenty. I hate to say it at this early stage, but I do wonder if Alan Curbishley is the right man for the job. Alan Pardew ‘got’ West Ham. He related to us. He knew what we wanted. He became a Hammer. Alan Curbishley played for us. He ought to know what this Club is about. But I really am beginning to wonder if that is the case. I’ll just give you my player scores and comments before slitting my wrists…

Roy Carroll – 4 – At fault for the goal and looked shaky the rest of the time
Christian Dailly – 8 – Man of the Match, which really says it all
Jonathan Spector – 6 – Lost possession too often
George McCartney – 6 – Not a patch on Konchesky at defending or attacking
Lucas Neill – 7 – Solid, got booked but was subbed for Paintsil just after half time due to injury
John Paintsil – 8 – excellent at attacking, good first touch, weaker defensively though
Nigel Reo-Coker – 6 – Failed to impose himself and didn’t win enough 50-50 balls
Nigel Quashie – 6 – Too many misdirected passes. Tough tackling but to little effect
Luis Boa Morte – 4 – Terrible. Was rightly subbed
Carlton Cole – 7 – Anonymous first half but worked like a trojan in the second half
Bobby Zamora – 7 – Put himself about and had a few chances
Shaun Newton – 2 – Worse than Boa Morte. Should never play for West Ham again.
Teddy Sheringham (sub) – 4 – Did sweet FA
Matthew Etherington (sub) – 5 – Couple of nice runs which went nowhere.

Now, where’s the razor…

… A Home Office Minister, thirty feet above me in the Directors Box at West Ham. Wouldn’t you have thought Tony McNulty would be following John Reid’s example and working ’18 hours a day to sort out the Home Office? No, me neither.