The Irons were dogged and determined for large parts of the second half in particular and on another day may have scored at least one more goal.
Young full-back, Ollie Scarles (19y 122d), was the youngest West Ham player to start at Anfield in a Premier League match since Joe Cole in February 2001 (19y 87d), and he justified his inclusion once again with a solid performance.
There were moments when Mo Salah got the better of him including for the opening goal, the assist for Liverpool's number 11 being his 45th involvement in a Premier League goal this season (27 goals, 18 assists).
That handed the Egyptian King a new record for a player in a 38-game season, overtaking Thierry Henry from 2002/03 (44) and Erling Haaland in 2022/23 (44).
Graham Potter happy with West Ham's effort against Liverpool
In his post-match press conference, Hammers manager Graham Potter preferred to accentuate the positives rather than dwell on the fact that his side are now fourth from bottom of the English top-flight.
"The performance of the team from our perspective was really positive. Probably the best performance we've had since we've been here," he told reporters.
"The balance between defence and attack was good against the best team. I thought Liverpool started really well with intensity and pushed us back, made it difficult, but credit to our players, we showed resilience, which hasn't always been there.
"I think we grew into the game and then in the second half I thought it was a strong performance. The crowd here are very knowledgeable, they know when Liverpool are in a game, and the way they celebrated the second goal was an indication of that because we played well."
Potter's insistence to the gathered media that there has been a consistent improvement can only be attributed to performance levels because results haven't matched the effort from his players.
He agreed with a reporter making just that point post-match, and with West Ham being winless in their last five Premier League matches (D2 L3), it exceeded their longest winless run in the competition under previous manager Julen Lopetegui (four).
It was also the Hammers' 22nd Premier League defeat at Anfield (P29 W1 D6 L22) with only Newcastle (24) losing there more often, and the east Londoners have now lost the last eight in a row on the red half of Merseyside by an aggregate score of 20-6.
At least Potter hasn't shied away from admitting that results haven't been good enough, and his honesty does him great credit. The fact remains, notwithstanding how the land lay when he arrived, that there's been no 'new manager bounce' to speak of, and that has to be a worry.
The 49-year-old has won just three of his 12 Premier League games in charge of the Hammers giving him a less than acceptable 25% win percentage. He's also overseen three draws and six losses.
Much maligned Julen Lopetegui had a better win percentage than Graham Potter
Even the much maligned Lopetegui had a 30% win percentage in his 20 Premier League games, and the 12 goals scored by Potter's side is exactly half of the 24 they managed under the Spaniard.
Irons chairman, David Sullivan, might therefore have more questions to answer if Potter doesn't improve in his final six games of the 2024/25 season (taking him to 18 in total).
Why would the club be happy to keep on a manager that is, on paper, even worse than Lopetegui, who had to deal with criticism on a daily basis?
Potter has certainly had a much easier ride in that respect, despite seemingly not being that much better.
Forward thinking and open to new ways of working he may be, but even at Chelsea, when all is said and done, Potter wasn't actually that good.
His 31.8% Premier League win percentage whilst at Stamford Bridge is only marginally better than Lopetegui's at West Ham, over roughly the same amount of games (22 for Potter, 20 for the former Real Madrid manager).
21 goals in 22 games whilst at Chelsea isn't inspiring either, and that hasn't improved since moving to east London. Twelve goals in 12 games is one per game and pretty much mirrors his time on the opposite side of the capital.
Brighton tenure has authored perception of Potter as a progressive coach
Potter made his name at Brighton and Hove Albion of course, and that has perhaps authored the perception of him as being a progressive coach.
The Seagulls certainly played some great stuff, but if we're judging the manager in results terms, it might surprise people to note that during Potter's time on the south coast, his Premier League win percentage was still just 28.3%.
In his 120 games in charge at Brighton they scored 132 goals but conceded 149.
Indeed, over the last six seasons, Potter's 154 Premier League games as a manager has seen 44 wins (22 home, 22 away) and 56 losses - 165 goals scored in that time sounds impressive until you understand that 185 have been conceded.
Therefore, it would seem that the power of spinning the narrative to suit is what's helped the Solihull-born Potter to cultivate the image of a manager who is a little more 'continental' in terms of the way he understands the game.
The fact is that, so far, he's no better than Lopetegui and nothing in his career would suggest that Potter will improve to the degree that West Ham supporters and the club's hierarchy might expect.
