THE gnarly, narky Reds leave London, again, with three points in the back bin.
Looking more and more assured every week are Jürgen Klopp’s increasingly street-wise upstarts.
Here are your ratings, then:
Simon Mignolet: 7
Just doesn’t look comfortable with the ball at his feet, might be my bias, just gives me the yips. Didn’t take any messing around from predictable Chelsea set-piece shenanigans.
Fantastic punch through a crowd of Chelsea players on 51 minutes, and had no chance with the goal.
Nathaniel Clyne: 8
Detailed with taking care of Eden Hazard and kept the Belgian very quiet. Offered himself at every opportunity and mopped up well when the tide turned late on.
Joel Matip: 7
His willingness to get forward is encouraging. Made an important block on Nemanja Matic at 1-0 but was overly hasty going to ground for Diego Costa’s goal. Otherwise faultless.
Dejan Lovren: 8
Strikers finish for Liverpool’s first, couple of solid blocks and more importantly, kept his head when it mattered. Incredible turnaround of his Liverpool career, do we have another leader? Looks like it.
James Milner: 7
Quietly efficient. He covers effectively and protects himself from being exposed. Shows experience further up the pitch in possession, especially under pressure.
Jordan Henderson: 8
Hasn’t scored a goal like that in his dreams never mind in training. Genuine captain’s performance. He’s improving at a rate of knots, only 26 but shone like a beacon in the midfield tonight. Could have maybe tracked his man better for Chelsea’s goal but hardly the prime suspect.
Georginio Wijnaldum: 7
Started well but faded badly, seemed to go missing for a good portion of the second period when we needed to stabilise, came strong again later on and protected possession well before picking up a slight knock.
Adam Lallana: 9
Tricky Adam Lallana. Gnarly Adam Lallana. Snide Adam Lallana. Shithouse Adam Lallana. Lovely Adam Lallana.
Philippe Coutinho: 7
Slow start but fantastic delivery for Lovren’s goal and became more influential as the first half progressed. Refused to hide when it was on the line but looked a little rusty.
Sadio Mane: 6
Struggled for space and touch not assured as of late. His radar seemed off and he looked tired late on when we had a few opportunities to break and release some pressure.
Daniel Sturridge: 7
Seems to have regained a touch of pace. A bit deeper again tonight but linked up well and provided an extra body in midfield. Did seem to miss Roberto Firmino’s presence and not as bright as last week.
Divock Origi: 6 (On for Sturridge 58′)
Not a great outing. Physically a nuisance but decision making seems to have regressed, maybe needs a run of games. The Origi of last year shoots instead of passes late on when he had a sight of goal but did force a great save from Thibaut Courtois with a solid header. Unfair to overly blame him, though, as the pace had come off the ball.
Lucas Leiva: 6 (On for Coutinho 82′)
Brought on to plug a hole, gave away his mandatory free-kick on the edge of the box with the game on a knife edge. Otherwise, calmed it all down.
Kevin Stewart: N/A (On for Wijnaldum 90′)
Shoe-in for the England squad at this rate.
Steven Gerrard: 10
Man of the match by a fucking mile.
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Fantastic win Redmen!! Traveling Kop were brilliant also! Showed what a proper football club is all about. Compared to the other mob, who at halftime of the fifth game of the season… After already picking up 10 out of 12 points, boo their team off. What a pathetic, plastic club.
Brilliant in the first half. Solid defending apart from Matip not staying on his feet in the second. Matip and Lovren together just works. Adam Lallana is imo currently the best player in the country.
” Adam Lallana is imo currently the best player in the country.”
My first reaction was to tell you to calm down, but on reflection, I realized that you are right. Lallana is indeed the most in-form English player at the moment.
It’s huge. Just one game but it’s massive. They’ve looked alright so far and we’ve blown them away for the first half. No surprise they sorted their shit out but we didn’t fall apart. So I’m getting carried away now but if we can get it together against the the smaller teams them it’s looking really fucking good. Up the no Europe reds.
Up the Brexit reds.
And what a finish from henderson. Absolute class. Captains goal.
You mean Hendo could have tracked Lallana’s man better for the goal?
Mane gets an extra point for me for getting back on Hazard after he jumped out of Clyne’s pocket late on.
Mane drew the double team, freeing up space for the rest. A 6 seems a bit harsh when you conisider game’s outcome might’ve been different without him on the pitch.
Steve Gerrard 10 is right! Ha
Also, I don’t see that Simon not looking comfortable with the ball at his feet should affect his rating. Unless he’s fucked up what’s the problem?
Tbh, it’s a worthy point, of course him not looking assured on the ball will affect his rating, it’s a performance based issue. He could be more comfortable and confident, there was a moment he tried to sidestep, over touched and then blazed it out for a throw. Looked alright but needs to improve. 7 is fair imo.
Did you see Klopp at the touchline when Migs ball went out?
Champions Elect
William is class, has been a top player ever since we’ve seen him at Chelsea, whoever has been the left back against him. Buy Milly a pint of orange juice and up him a point, he did a man’s job.
Absolutely made up for Hendo.
Made up for the team. Steel in Red is great to see. Shitting it but not , at the same time. Does that make sense ? Like you Andy, loved the snideness in places tonight. Stuffed those plastic chav fucks. At home. Again.
They’re most definitely NOT shite this year. Conte is the real deal. They will be there or there abouts at the end. There is a sense of purpose, of resolve building in this team. I’m buzzing. Again.
PS. I love Milly. Total Pro.
You’re wrong about Gino, Andy. He had a really strong second half: he was everywhere, making tackles and leading attacks.
Hendo was the pick though: superb.
Agreed. I’m beginning to see what Klopp wants from and sees in Gini. Thought he was first rate tonight. It’s total football from the three in the middle. A taller, quicker, more robust and more prolific Wee Joe.
And then some. Still don’t know who misses out when Can is fit though.
“Still don’t know who misses out when Can is fit though.”
I am beginning to suspect that it will be Can.
Agree – he was top. A big thing I am noticing about this team is the composure in tight situations. On several occasions when the ball came to us at the back, instead of the kind of pinball hoofing we’d do under Rodgers, and the failure to clear our lines that usually preceded a soft goal given away because of bad defending, we now keep our composure and look for the simple calming pass. It kept happening, there were some brilliantly composed touches, even a series of them just in front of our own goal.
Gini did a lot of that, holding on to the ball, passing it off, waiting for the right opportunity. He’s very strong in possession, like we saw for Lallana’s goal last week. Think he’s doing great.
That’s the beauty. For the first time in what feels like ages, we’ve got a proper, competitive squad.
With you mate! Henderson superb and by far man of the match.
Agree . Never had much of the ball but was closing down spaces all over the pitch . Like to see a bit more from him going forward though . Early days .
Lads, it would make things so much simpler if you install the Disqus plug in here. And I guarantee there would be more commenters and returning commenters (which translates to more page views)!
I am of the opinion that TAW are quite happy with the current set up. Some other sites which need not be named are flooded with BS comments, the kind of which that seem to be in the minority on here. If it ain’t broke… ;)
You could tell from looking at Henderson in the tunnel that he had no intention of letting Chelsea dominate. This was a captain determined to play as a captain and that’s exactly what he did. He could’ve easily have laid that ball off to one of the more prolific scorers but he didn’t, he dispelled those doubts that usually hit him before he shoots and scored a goal he’d practiced so many times on the training pitch.
This game was a watershed moment for Henderson. He’d tapped into the same kind of mentality as his predecessor, where the desire for the team to win overcame his self-doubts. Alright, both he and Lallana could’ve been more switched on for their goal but it came at a point when numerous players were paying for the pace of the first half. If we’ve got any sense we’ll try to keep Henderson on this wave of confidence for as long as possible.
That first half was fucking easy. This is what Klopp has given us, the ability to go to Stamford Bridge against a rejuvenated Chelsea with a top manager and quite literally take the piss out of them. They looked like frightened lambs on their own turf. Inevitably they re-grouped second half, but we just dug in and showed a new-found maturity to see out the game relatively comfortable. I think all of our nerves were based on previous games where we have wilted in similar circumstances. In reality we were fine. Mignolet didn’t have to do a damned thing.
Matip – oh my word. We’ve found the Cameroonian Big Sami.
Yeah, that’s a huge turnaround isn’t it? We didn’t beat them on the counter, we dominated them on their own turf from the first whistle. Impressive stuff.
You’re right. We just imposed ourselves on them from kick-off. For Chelsea it must have been like coming into work to find a passive aggressive colleague sitting in your seat and refusing to budge.
I think this is what Klopp refers to when he says we are a possession team. He said it last season too but I was almost sceptical because of how devastating I’d seen us be on the counter. I’ve also got a phobia about the word ‘possession’ owing to how many games I’ve seen over the years where we’ve ‘totally dominated’ possession yet failed to create and lost the game.
Last night though – that’s how to be a possession side. Coutinho’s second against Arsenal is another example. Keep hold of the ball, make the opposition work and then press them to death when you lose it, catch them out of position and attack in numbers. Nothing better to watch.
Sing that fucking Gerrard song again Chelsea fans.
Another thing I just loved was our flagrant disregard for the fact that we were away against a very strong, undefeated side. We played them like they were a bunch of clowns.
Can’t believe you only gave Stevie a 10.
I though Georgie was excellent. Loads of energy, calm, lots of running in behind, our midfield really stood up to be counted today.
Their goal was disastrous defending all round. Several players just lost their heads. Erase that 30 seconds and it was an incredibly classy performance. Very good signs.
Sorry to be negative but I don’t think Studgr did himself any favours. I would be very surprised to see him start against another top side. He wasn’t awful by any means, he just offers far less than Bobbie. Bobbies give great control and links play so well and obviously his pressing is immense. I really felt we missed that tonight, even basking in the glory of victory. Studge obviously has a big role to play, but I think it will be mostly flat track bully at home.
Interesting to see how one year has changed our views on Bobby and Lallana. I admit I had some doubts about Bobby after first few games of last season. But yesterday I was worried when his name was not in the starting 11. And many of us thought Mane would be the outright replacement for Lallana. But Lallana has really established himself in the team too.
I hope the new keeper, young midfielders, Lucas, sturridge/origi/Ings, Ojo, etc are also fight out with the current first 11 in the training pitch to get and keep the starting spots.
The passing and movement in the first half was a joy to see – almost telepathic awareness . A nervy 2nd for sure . Seemed like an eternity . In parts we looked like we ran out of steam, a bit ragged and panicky but somehow kept it together, dug in and kept our heads. Really Great to see us passing the a ball around late in the 2nd and making Chelsea work to get it back . We have frailties but are a young team and learning and maturing with every game.
I was really pleased (and a bit shock to be honest) to witness that superb first half and two goals. Well, I didn’t expect us to be cautious like Rafa and Houllier team set ups at Chelsea, but I certainly didn’t expect us to show now respect at all to Chelsea and played our own game, the way we wanted, and scored with a sense of entitlement!!!
Up the Entitled Reds!!!
You all ok. Mane deserves extra point.
When will Danny Ings have a chance?
Points made about passing under pressure well made. Great to watch like a pinball machine at times first half. Trying to work out if the set piece was a training ground move or as JC said very lazy Chelski. My highlight was Klopp on pitch after game giving every player an individual response. He’s so involved and perfect for the club’s culture
Been wanting to say this: the pic of Hendo on his knees, gloria in excelsis, seems at once profoundly moving and slightly disturbing. The jaw seems extended to a comically dangerous point, looking spot on for Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis stretching their faces in Beetlejuice (look it up).
Not sure what Lallana did to warrant a higher rating, but with the Reds playing like that who am I to quibble?
How many home games have Chelsea lost in the past decade or so? About as many as Conte, I’d imagine. I love that we are starting to make Stamford Bridge a fortress. Quite cozy, actually.