• ‘We want to improve and Scott Parker is a big part of this’
• Grant backs Robert Green to get over disastrous World Cup

Avram Grant has insisted the sought-after midfielder Scott Parker will remain his West Ham United side’s heartbeat, while also backing the England internationals Robert Green and Matthew Upson to overcome their disappointing World Cups.

Tottenham yesterday had a bid worth a reported £7m for the player swept angrily off the table by the West Ham co-chairman, David Sullivan. Grant, the club’s manager, said: “We want to plan to improve for the next few seasons and Scott Parker is a big part of this process. He is a very good player and has a good influence on the young players. I’m sure if he was for sale that other teams would want him as well. But we are a team with ambition and we want to progress.”

Parker played alongside Green and Upson in West Ham’s 2-0 pre-season victory over MK Dons last night, secured with goals from Julien Faubert and Carlton Cole.

Green was dropped by England after his mistake gifted the USA their equaliser in the sides’ drawn opening group match while Upson played in the 4-1 second-round defeat to Germany. “Robert is a good goalkeeper. He is doing his job and he is training well,” Grant said. “Also, Matthew Upson played his first 45 minutes as well. It was good for them and for us.

“They are not children. They know disappointment is part of the game and they need to recover very quickly because they are playing for the team. What has happened has happened and we are looking forward. I have no worries at all, it was business as usual and they know that.”

Parker was the only player declared not for sale by Sullivan this summer, with Green, Upson and Cole all linked with moves away from Upton Park. But the West Ham vice-chairman, Karren Brady, stressed the club had turned down bids for players and the focus is on improving, not dismantling, the squad.

West Ham have been chasing the defender Tal Ben Haim and the Nice striker Loïc Rémy. Grant told the club’s website: “We are looking for players. There are good players in this team but we want to make the squad stronger and we are looking for two or three players that can improve the team. I am happy with what we have but I am always looking for a way of improving and making things better.”

West Ham UnitedAvram GrantTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

Life without Fernando Torres is a prospect not worth contemplating for Liverpool but they coped comfortably without their talisman to keep alive their faint hopes of Champions League football tonight. Though not every opponent is as accommodating as West Ham United, of course.

The lowest league gate of the season at Anfield may have been a reflection of Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top four but against Gianfranco Zola’s anaemic team, victory was never in doubt. Rafael Benítez could have lost his entire strikeforce to injury and Liverpool would still have found a route through a weak visiting defence. A return of four points from their previous two league matches may have given West Ham belief in their Premier League survival, but on this evidence they can take nothing for granted. Roberto Martínez, the observing Wigan Athletic manager, will not be unduly alarmed ahead of their relegation battle at Upton Park this weekend

Across Stanley Park two weeks ago a spirited draw at Everton that ended a run of six successive defeats began to lift the pressure on Zola and West Ham. Victory over Sunderland then increased the flow of confidence through the relegation candidates at a critical moment but, despite an encouraging start, momentum was relinquished cheaply on their return to Merseyside.

Liverpool began tentatively, befitting a side that failed to score against Fulham on their last outing at Anfield and one striving to rediscover their potency without their one world-class striker for the rest of this trying season. Thanks to costly lapses in concentration in the West Ham defence, however, the home side were able to assume complete control without having to raise their performance to any exalted heights.

The man at the helm of several financially troubled institutions, Martin Broughton, the British Airways chairman, Liverpool’s new independent chairman and the man charged with completing the sale of the club for Tom Hicks and George Gillett, was present for the first time since joining the Anfield board on Friday. Along with 37,000 others, his stupor was eventually lifted with a goal of breathtaking simplicity for Yossi Benayoun, the former West Ham midfielder, who responded to the jeers that accompanied his every touch from the away section in the most damaging way possible.

Steven Gerrard whipped over a low free-kick from the right, awarded after a needless foul by Jonathan Spector on David Ngog, and the Israel captain found himself completely unmarked in front of goal and able to steer the ball beyond Robert Green with his chest. Benayoun’s body shape suggested he may have used an arm to score off the inside of the post but West Ham’s appeals were decidedly muted, and replays vindicated the officials’ decision to allow the goal to stand. There was no excuse for West Ham. Gerrard had tried a similar trick moments earlier when Dirk Kuyt and Benayoun were both left unmarked at a free-kick only for the former to be ruled offside. The failure to heed the warning proved costly.

Liverpool doubled their lead 10 minutes later through Ngog, the young French striker who suffers for paling by comparison with Torres but whom Zola had correctly identified as a genuine threat with his movement around the box.

Benayoun was again central to the goal, cutting inside and picking out Maxi Rodríguez wide on the right, and when the Argentina winger crossed low Ngog reacted far quicker than Matthew Upson to sweep a fine finish through Green’s suspect defences. It was a goal to worry Fabio Capello as well as his compatriot in the West Ham dugout.

A comfortable lead and precious little threat from the visitors made ideal preparation for Liverpool’s Europa League semi-final against Atlético Madrid. The proposed journey to the Spanish capital presents a bigger problem than anything West Ham could offer.

Carlton Cole’s shot from the angle of the area, saved by Jose Reina shortly after Benayoun’s opener, was the only moment of danger from the Hammers inside the first hour and consistently appalling defending at set-pieces was no basis for a Wigan-like recovery.

Liverpool eased further ahead courtesy of another Gerrard free-kick. This time the captain’s deep delivery from the left found Sotirios Kyrgiakos receiving scant attention from Upson at the back post. The Greece defender stretched to divert the ball against the post, and the rebound struck the unfortunate Green on the leg before rolling over the line. The stroll was complete.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolWest Ham UnitedAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk