GREAT news for people who like games of football. There’s another one in February and one last trip to The Boleyn before they bulldoze another piece of our national game’s history.
A much-weakened Liverpool grew into the game well and probably did enough to win, without you quite coming away scratching your head how they didn’t. For some their stock has risen slightly. For others it should be clear why they are where they are. But for now, some scores.
Simon Mignolet: 5
Ah, Simon. On a quiet night for you I’ve probably got to give you a five for dropping a throw in. Also took far too long to get it up the pitch at the end. Some nifty feet to deal with a corner though. Slide tackles are an underrated piece of the goalkeeper’s armour.
Nathaniel Clyne: 8
Thought he was great. Attacked with purpose and as solid as Robbo’s ma at the back. Was terrific for the Allen chance.
Brad Smith: 5
Tougher night for Brad. They got at him down the right, and we didn’t see much of his fantastic delivery either. Scuffed his big chance in front of goal when he might have been better off rolling it across for Benteke.
Steven Caulker: 7
Couple of shaky moments on the ball but can largely be pleased with himself. Glad he finally got his start. Heads it. Deals with crosses. Go ‘ed, lid.
Dejan Lovren: 6.5
Loses some points for completely mis-judging a cross first half. Recovered well, but that really should have been a goal.
Kevin Stewart: 7
Exposing the myth of defensive midfield. Stand there. Pass 10 yards either side. Head the odd loose ball. They’re all fucking frauds. That Alex Song gets about 80 grand a week for what Kevin Stewart did today. Probably shouldn’t shoot though.
Cameron Brannagan: 7
Best performance for the first team. Used the ball sensibly and intelligently and got about the pitch well, too. Nearly had a goal. Well not that nearly.
Joe Allen: 7
Felt sorry for him. Waits all that time for a start and we stick him left wing. Battled well though, and makes life easier for his mates.
Jordon Ibe: 5
On The Pink, I mentioned that he needs to be out-performing the young lads and Jacko pointed out he’s younger than most of the young lads. We forget. By any judgement he was disappointing today.
Joao Teixeira: 6
I can see the nice things people say he does, but sometimes he needs to realise you can get it and give it, or play a simple ball inside. I know he is keen to impress, but it doesn’t have to all be mazy runs and through balls. But don’t want to seem to harsh, even though he does my head in. Has some good moments.
Christian Benteke: 5
The senior man. The second most expensive player in the history of Liverpool FC. Has to impose himself somehow. Didn’t. Took one shot early which had the mark of a striker.
SUBS
Sheyi Ojo: 7
He got onto the fact he was well quicker than them, even if his team mates didn’t.
Jerome Sinclair: n/a
Ran a bit.
Jose Enrique: n/a
What the fuck was that all about??!!!???!!!!!
Was Benteke dropped on purpose?
Or maybe the picture on the top summed up his rating? :)
Sorry didn’t seem him in the ratings
Marshy: Five point five…(minus 0.5 for missing Benteke :)
Cheers
I feel for Benteke. He was a poor buy in the first place, because we don’t have the armoury to cater for his strengths. But anyone who has ever had a spell of poor form, either because of your biorhythms or because the onanists in the crowd have decided they don’t like you, knows that the harder you try the worse it gets. Balotelli and Markovyc can attest to that. Lucas Leiva copped more groans than any player should be asked to endure but rose above it. Very few, if any, can rise above it in the way Lucas did, and he still has unrepentant haters.
I think in an ideal world he could come on in games at 2 – 0 up with 15 minutes left with less pressure and build his confidence, with the crowd more forgiving. But at the moment that’s not the situation.
Funny, about Kevin Stewart (and Song).
Maybe time to take Ibe out of limelight for two weeks, and give time to reflect and come back mentally stronger (he is ok physically, but low on confidence now)
or send him off for a vacation (as long as he does not post picture with balloons)
The Kevin Stewart commentary….brilliant, makes me want to add one of those smiley emoticon things. I thought Brannagan was very good – mom. Texiera, I get why he’s not quite made it yet.
Meant to add, Mig, wtf mate – forget any fancy footwork, just twat anything that comes to you on the ground upfield – no passing to the defenders or any consideration of one twos – big foot and be gone – abysmal footwork tonight.
Thought Stewart & Brannagan were excellent against Exeter too, & again tonight. Klopp was going ballistic at Mignolet at the end, don’t think Simon is the brightest. Ibe definitely needs a rest. Thought Caulker did well, big round of applause when he just cleared into touch early on rather than go back to Mignolet or try a Cruyff turn. I didn’t understand the fume when he signed, it’s not as if the others who’ve played centre half are performing any better.
I know he’s young and that but Ibe, for all his talent on the ball, has zero ability to read the game in front of him or make a decent decision. He either charges forward bull-in-a-china-shop style and runs out of pitch, or he dicks about doing stepovers while trying to decide what to do next and loses the ball. Today, once again, he was totally ineffective and ended up drifting out of the game. I Don’t understand why Ojo isn’t picked ahead of him every time.
The overall team performance was probably better than the sum of its very youthful parts.I’d give it a 7.5 .
It was fairly comfortable and tight at the back, worked hard, ran tirelessly and controlled midfield but lacked a bit of poke and luck up front .Not forgetting that it was a shadow team that managed to outplay a side that had taken 6 points from us in the league. Some good partnerships in defence and midfield ,a clean sheet, no new injuries and players rested for Tuesday. Lots of positive.
Ha! That freekick. It was amazing.
Two days left lad, show the world they should buy you!
That freekick!
What the fuck indeed. Hilarious though. Noise of the ground. ABORT!!!!
5 for Smith what’s that about John! The lad looked comfortable stepping up in to tough quality PL opposition. Clearly his remit was not to be too gung ho today, Atm he’s well ahead of Moreno on positioning and composure alone. Based on your ratings for others should have been had. 7.
And Branigan mostly bossed the midfield until gradually running out of steam. Based on his prior experience should have had a 9.
For someone who hosts the central league spot you need to self assess your own expectations of the youngsters. They are probably tuning to TAW and a bit more encouragement wouldn’t go amiss.
Smith is really poor defensively, doesn’t appear to be able to head the ball. Once we have the ball, he does give us a great outlet and moves forward at pace which is a great weapon. But defensively…
The keeper and the no. 9 both still stink of poo. The kids are alright though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZd3Cfkonk
But ultimately Joeallen Libpoolcaptain :) (although his technique for that chance edge of the box physically pained me)
Ojo’s dead pacey though. I’m fickle so Ibe and him need to swap places in our squad plans.
Was watching Allen Bury all his practice shots in the warm – up – some excellent right – in – the – corner finishes. My brother said to me “he’ll fluff a hat trick of chances in the game”. He’s picking my lottery numbers next week.
Benteke can be a decent 3rd/4th option to fall back on and switch it up for us at best…he just doesn’t fit the whole scheme. I try to stay positive…but… Unless he scores 1 or 2 out of nothing, you’ll always say ‘what else does he do?’ It’s like Mignolet…if he’s not stopping shots (which he isn’t lately), what else does he do? Best insight from TAW these last weeks — we need to be a lot more ruthless in both boxes.
I think I need to watch the game again. Clyne is certainly a fine defender but I can’t see his attacking abilities Always appears to run out of ideas to me..
I think I need to watch the game again.
The only thing I wanted to read about Teixeira was how much better than Lallana he is. Lallana does our heads in week in week out and Coutinho does the same too except for a few games he decides on his own. Why shouldn’t we all be crying for Lallana to be dropped for Teixeira??? Plus the Brannagan rating is not very fair compared to what others got. He showed us why Milner offers us nothing and Emre Can flatters to deceive us.
They’re a bit like horoscopes match ratings : you can read any one for anyone. Which is the problem for our team in general : no star players. And the ‘B’ team has nothing either.
What becomes of the Welsh Allen if he buries that bicycle kick? Would the minds of supporters literally explode here and there across the Kop?
Klopp wanted his players to be more heavy metal. Seems like someone got the memo.
Not hard to imagine a 4-3-3 with Allen-Can-Hendo playing behind Coutinho-Sturridge-Firmino could produce something pleasing on the eye if we could get them all fit. In time for the final would be nice, thank you.
Encouraging. But I did not understand why in a game we had to win why so many of our players thought the best strategy was to fall on the floor. Shearer was particularly bad doing this. Another weak player that can only do Cruyff turns. Benteke remains an enigma. Obviously he likes to hover around the penalty spot for shot s or headers. Can’t understand why the others cannot figure this out. He needs to demand the ball there. Enrique taking the free kick at that moment? Too many missed opportunities. Too many long shots.