A WONDERFUL result, especially after going 1-0 down. A manager can only change so much in a short time. We’ve all mentioned his tactical changes, his pressing, players he’s brought back, players “playing in their right positions”. Jurgen has talked about belief.
Belief means you can go a goal down and not panic. Belief means you can recognise when a team is on the ropes, no matter what stadium you are at, or the reputation of the opposition, and know when to deliver a knock out blow. Belief is taking a midfielder off for a striker when the opposition are actually having a decent spell. Belief means you go up in a game and recognise you deserve to be there. Belief is a wonderful thing for a football team to have. Belief is this: You can do anything.
Steh auf, wenn du für Liverpool bist.
Simon Mignolet 7
On the replays their goal looks pretty centre of the net, but in reality it’s past him in no time. Does fantastic for the long distance strike that could have caught him out. Needed a good performance after Bogdan impressing in the week.
Nathaniel Clyne 6
Would like to have seen him get forward more, but was solid enough.
Alberto Moreno 6
As Jamie Carragher pointed out, being cocky in the press in the week often comes back to bite you in the bum.
Lots from Moreno on Rodgers this week, the goal showing why Rodgers stopped picking him.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) October 31, 2015
The goal is what happens when full backs aren’t natural defenders. But then I can’t see Jon Flanagan flying 50 yards down the left-hand side to force a great save from Begovic either, and one should be easier to teach.
Martin Skrtel 7
Isn’t great for their goal either. But second half especially was exactly what you want from him, blocking shots and looking something close to imperious. Reads it well when Oscar plays through Sakho’s legs.
Mamadou Sakho 7
A bit quieter than you might expect. Maybe they were scared to go anywhere near him. Looked good on the ball though, and did what he needed to when they bothered to attack.
Lucas Leiva 7
Actually started slowly, but increasingly vital as the game went on. Was unfortunate to receive a yellow card.
Emre Can 6
Prefer him away from home, when his physical presence really helps us.
James Milner 5
Got to be careful here ’cause the internet has decided they hate him and I’m too busy to reply to you all later. Clear he isn’t quite quick enough to do what he wants. BUT, he does something dangerous with the ball more than he is given credit for.
Adam Lallana 6
Becoming increasingly likely he’s the one to drop out when more are available. Worse options to have though.
Philippe Coutinho 17
Has had to put up with yer da tweeting all week that he should be on the bench. Showed why you keep him on the pitch until his head falls off.
Roberto Firmino 6
Wasn’t easy for him in that position. Did his best.
SUBS
Christian Benteke 7
Brilliant in the air for both goals. Follows up for the second one and is the calmest man in the ground, as he picked his moment to shoot perfectly. Did well to ignore my advice of “PASS IT, SHOOT! LOOK TO YOUR LEFT!! SHOOT!!!!”
Jordon Ibe 6
Lively. Could have scored. Was very open, but running with far more purpose than he was a few weeks ago.
Dejan Lovren n/a
Hilarious that we brought an extra centre half on and then there was a big gap right down the middle for Willian. What happened there?
More sense from my lad, blimey. Have a word with Neil about Coutinho will you.
Pretty much spot on with that Gibbo, just think, if we start cutting out the silly individual errors we will be fucking boss, went to the bridge and bossed it, even after that stupid early goal we got our heads up and got at them, a real sign something special is happening on the pitch again!
That comment on Lucas is wasted on an LFC site. Someone post it on a Chelsea forum and watch them explode!
Giving Coutinho 17 out of 10 is being a bit generous John…
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of shysters, and what a place to get your first league win as a manager (even if they’re supposedly shit at the moment – 2 shots on target!). Who wants Rodgers back?
Just looked at the match stats. Amazing.
Shots of target: 2 Chelsea vs 7
Corners: 1 vs 7
Possession: 43% vs 57%
couldn’t have asked for more from the team.
*shots ON target.
Skert: best game for this season.
Skert and Sakho: best game as a pair, (even better then the funny video two years back.)
Great performance from all barring a few, 6 is extraodrinarily generous for Moreno. His decision making was diabolical. He seems to have no game intelligence whatsoever, we would have got more purchase out of a headless chicken. I will be shocked if he remains here long term. Wasn’t too impressed with Milner or Can either but the rest did very well. We seem to be developing an identifiable style which is great considering Klopp’s only been here 3 weeks. We’ll be pretty tasty with both Benteke and Sturridge in the team.
And wouldn’t it be great if this game proved to be the final straw for Mourinho’s reign given what happened in 13/14. Best served cold and all that.
The fact his players don’t look like wanting to play for him means I want him to stay on. Their pitiful form could be our opening into the top 4.
Always enjoy the ratings and reasoning for them. Think fair marks.
Big fan of Sakho, especially his vertical passing.
It was Sakho’s long ball that led to the second goal.
Can far too sloppy in possession and Milner was shocking early on but all the players worked hard off the ball.
Special praise –
Skrtel for dominating Costa and for not reacting to that spiteful little kick.
Lucas for still getting into the opposition box late in the game and for staying on the pitch.Was dying for him to score and see Mourinho’s head explode.
Chelsea are gutless and rotten.Biggest effort they made all afternoon was when they surrounded the ref to try to get Lucas sent off.
Completely agree on what you said about Skertl , Costa unable to pull his usual bs. Cant stand that guy.
What a game , I thought we were awesome today. Tackled like dervishes and harried Wiliann to the very edge. I thought Llanna was really excellent today so disagree with the mark , as was Lucas. Still got a smile on my face !
Coutinho was none existent for much of the game but scored 2 class goals.
Torres never did anything for 90 mins but managed to be the best striker ever in the history of strikers for the time he blessed us with his presence.
Coutinho was unlucky not to get 17.5.
Gotta agree. He had done next to nothing until he scored. That seemed to inspire him and he had a better 2nd half. Before he scored me and me mate were debating who should be subbed first him or Milner.
Coutinho has this ability to pop up at the edge of the box, in space with the ball at his feet. Normally he skews his shot wide but if he learns to finish like yesterday then there’s no reason why he can’t score 10-15 goals a season which would take him up a whole new level.
Not sure I agree with the somewhat silly 17 for Phil. Sure, he was a massive part of us winning today, but in the first 47 minutes he was playing more like a 3 or 4. Stepped up in the second half though and deserves an 8 for his goals.
I think we should also give Skrtel more credit today. Him and Sakho had the second best striker in the league in their pocket all day long. Considering they don’t always get too much help from the fullbacks and the midfield I think they did great today.
Having said that, both fullbacks were alright today, Moreno better in attack, Clyne a tad better in defence (not much though).
Lucas did alright, but he needs to work on his positioning as his pace is poor.
Milner was bang average as usual. Can is mediocre aswell but the lad is still young and you can see that he’s got potential.
Firmino very good again. Lallana was not at his best and is like Milner a bit frustrating because you know he’s better than what he’s showing us at the moment.
Mignolet was decent today. Can’t be blamed for the goal but I feel that he could’ve saved that on a better day. Brilliant save after Lucas gave away the ball to Oscar.
Ibe and especially Benteke was brilliant when they came on. We always knew Benteke was gonna come on and give us presence up front, but he was much better than I had dared to hope for after his injury. Great game from the Belgian.
“Lucas did alright, but he needs to work on his positioning as his pace is poor.”
and
“Brilliant save after Lucas gave away the ball to Oscar.”
Steady Stav, STEADY!
We won at the Bridge! We scored 3 goals. We came back from behind. We added another nail in the Grouchy One’s coffin. Give them all 10 out of 10, even the unused subs.
Wouldn’t it be great if in a couple of years we’re all talking about our boss attacking left back. Really want him to blossom just like our world class holding midfielder has. Lucas I salute you!
Lucas is massive, bleeds Red. When he’s not in the team you realize how much he does. Almost feel bad for those that don’t see he is class.
I actually thought Lucas was lucky not to have been shown red. Skyrtel was foolish for not getting Costa rightly sent off. That’s a huge error against a better team that will always get your man sent off and for much less. There would be no talk of how hard he is, if Costa had gone on to win the game for Chelsea.
Moreno’s comments were stupid. He looks a fairly stupid man (just like Riise), although the speed he can run with the ball is very impressive. I hope we can turn him into the genuine attacking player that he obviously appears to be, when we get more cover at full-back.
A great and famous win though. Our best since City in 2014. I also though that Coutinho should have been dropped for this game. Feeling a bit silly, also rather confused as to where the hell that performance came from.
The Reds best performance this season by far!!! Sakho and Skrtel are slowly becoming one of the best centre half pairing in the premiership!! Stubborn, tough and always looking for the forward pass!!! The ‘Klopp affect’ is starting to show!! Keep this style of play up and top four WILL happen!!! Up the Reds!!!!
By the way – I take it 17 should have been 7?
Happy with the ratings and grateful for the work you put in, as always, John. I have one quibble: Simon Mignolet. The man is a lost cause. Time and time again he rolls the ball out to players who either don’t want the ball or, even worse, aren’t even facing him. He must give his centre-backs kittens.
I thought his kicking was noticeably better yesterday. He stopped taking a touch and wellied it down the pitch. One step at a time. He’s not as bad as people say. Just needs to improve on crosses.
Benteke was MOTM for me again today. He was the reason we won the game. He looks a promising signing and plays like he has something to prove. Coutino had a better game. We all know he has that quality but he needs to do it more consistently. Milner and Can poor again. There only passing the ball short and still giving the ball away. Needs to stop. The full backs were spot on. They have the hardest job at the moment with the system we are playing so there going to make a few mistakes but they never give up all game. Good game for us but Chelsea were poor. We’re a momentum team so let’s just hope this carries on.
10 – John Gibbons, saying sensible John Gibbons things, in a very John Gibbons way.