BEFORE the game everyone just wanted to talk about Thursday. Saw our mate James Cutler and he said he wasn’t over it. That was the general feeling. We won and then we drank and now we’re here.
It must have felt like that for the players, too, so Jürgen was right to change so many. Lads with points to prove, desperate to get in the Thursday night team offered much more value than better players jogging about with their heads in a daze.
Even when nothing was happening, we looked more likely. Better forwards will do that. Passes for show, goals for dough. Liverpool had more threat and therefore more goals and therefore won. Sometimes it’s that easy.
Let’s get the Derby done and see them go again against Newcastle.
Danny Ward: 8
Shame for him we conceded late because he deserved a clean sheet. Can be rightly proud of his debut. Good distribution, too.
Connor Randall: 6
Quiet but fine. Makes you feel we can play anyone full back if we have Sturridge up front.
Brad Smith: 6
Can be more of an asset going forward than we managed to make use of. But nothing wrong with a solid 90 at this stage of his career.
Lucas Leiva: 7
Lost a lot of foot races in the channels, but stuck at his task well. Positions himself perfectly on crosses and knows when to step out.
Kolo Toure: 6
Shame to see him go off. Dependable in these situations.
Kevin Stewart: 7
Bit more confident in his passing today. Defensively solid as always.
Joe Allen: 8
Almost captains this scratch side now. Brilliant moment when he won it high up and then played a reverse pass for Sturridge to hit the post. Sign him up.
Jordon Ibe: 7
Having seemingly been so far out of favour he played maturely. Involved in lots of our good play and both of the goals.
Sheyi Ojo: 6
Quiet-ish but then has a magic moment first half. Still getting to grips with himself and the standard, but the flashes show his potential. Worth remembering he is 18 years old.
Roberto Firmino: 6
Still not convinced he is a 10. Wants to decorate games rather than run them. Knows where the goal is though, doesn’t he?
Daniel Sturridge: 9
Oozes class, can create or score out of nothing. Gets one, but unlucky not to go hone with the ball after hitting the woodwork twice.
SUBS
Mamadou Sakho: 6
Tough to come on cold at centre half, but to his credit that it wasn’t really noticed.
Divock Origi: 6
Had a nice jog around.
Adam Lallana: 6
Had a nice jog around.
I like reading these ratings,particularly when I haven’t seen the game.Ibe got MOM on the BBC site which is how I followed the game.Great that we can make so many changes and still win away.Keep Sturridge fit and he scores
Quite like how Firmino lets all these other soft shites do all the running round and play all the football while he just hangs round waiting for the tap in. Got life sussed.
I’d like to be a player like him if I played top level football; like Kuyt but not even working hard. Backfires on you though when Dortmund are too good to give you much of a sniff and you just end up being a passenger.
Allen squeezing that waster Gosling out of it for Sturridge dinking it just onto the post was gutting. So close to being one of my favourite goals of the season.
I was made up with Danny Ward as well but that probably goes without saying… Did Klopp have Bogdan abducted after Exeter? If so I can’t pretend to be strictly against it tbh.
I don’t think it’s a problem that Firmino is more of a goalscoring #10 than a playmaking #10. He’s about moments, not about running the show.
The important thing is the dynamic between the two central attackers, and when Sturridge is the #9 I think it’s good to have Firmino there with him, as Studge likes to get involved and do the playmaking. Then Firmino can just move around and decorate as much as he wants. Find pockets, play 1-2’s, get into the box, be involved in goals.
The link role is important defensively in Klopp’s 4-4-1-1, and Firmino is very good here. He knows when to press with the striker and when to be the third midfielder. So even when he has a 50/50 day on the ball and the margins are against him in some situations, he’s still contributing to the team. It’s all a bit Thomas Muller.
Up the Reds.
Take a look at how Sturridge gets a clean header. There’s a little number 24 blocking off the man marking him. #noallennoparty
Nice ratings I reckon – great shout on Joe Allen, works so hard and with definite class at times, I think his mind is sharp which can surprise. When we play with as much cohesion as we did 2 seasons ago, I’d say JA can be a key player in that, just my opinion of course.
And I think it’s the same level of cohesion (as we’re some way from that, obviously) which explains why our attackers aren’t at their very sharpest, including Firmino (I like calling him Bertie!) – How good can the side be when they are at their sharpest??
Up the Reds
Firmino needs be about more than just moments for me. His numbers for the season look very good on paper, and there are definitely times when he has played well, but I just don’t see where he fits into our strongest 11. He’s not a first choice number 9 or 10 and when he plays wide he disappears from the game for long periods. There’s a lot to be said for having a knack of arriving in the box at the right time but if we’re going to compete at the highest level then we need him to do a lot more than that. He should be looking to take responsibility and get involved in the game more, in the same way that the likes of Suarez and Kuyt did.
This is the defintion of a knee jerk reaction. Bobby was our best player for a good few months lad. One or two shite games after an injury lay off doesn’t mean jack.
Allen was my MOM by far. So much industry. I thought Stewart looked pretty ordinary, don’t really see him having a long term future.
And is it just me, but could young Ojo lose a few pounds. Seemed to jog around a bit for someone so young.
I thought Sturridge and Joe Allen were superb today. Hopefully we offer Allen a new contract soon. If he was a bigger unit I think he would be a nailed on starter for us, but as it stands he’s such a good squad player to call upon when needed. Personally I would hate to lose him before the likes of Lucas and Henderson, but I’m aware I may be in the minority with that view.
I don’t get the love for Ibe. He wastes the ball so often and he doesn’t really play for the team. I lost count of the number of times Brad Smith overlapped him and ran into acres of space on their left only for Ibe to just ignore him, try to cut inside and then lose the ball because it’s so predictable what he’ll do. Maybe he’s trying too hard. Maybe he’s just not very smart. Great free kick though.
Sturridge MOM for me. Just so intelligent on and off the ball. If he can get that extra yard of pace back, and stay fit then he will be sensational for us.
I really want to like Stewart, but he’s just not quite there. His passing is just not good enough – there’s never enough weight on the ball. That might just be confidence, but it allows their midfield to get at our back four. I hope he comes right.
His positioning and reading of the game is very good, and you’d like to think that if he doesn’t make it for us, he might have a career in the championship, but in the champ you need that blood and guts which is the very thing he is missing.
If you could combine Stewart’s intelligence and positioning with Spearing’s self-belief and desire, you’d have one hell of a player.