Ben Johnson’s player ratings after Inter Milan 0 Liverpool 2 in the Champions League at the San Siro, as the centre halves take control…
ALMOST routine that, wasn’t it?
Which in itself is wild. Routine wins away at the San Siro in the last 16. What a time to be alive.
Alisson: 7
Now I know they had a few good breaks where they could possibly have done better and hit the bar first half with a great effort, but did our goalie actually have a single save to make? In a game where the general consensus was that this was a smash and grab, I’m not sure he touched the fucking thing once aside from playing with his feet. I’ll take all that you got, lads. Gets a seven for general soundness. Mind you, that outside of the boot flick was wild, wasn’t it? Nearly a point deducted for that.
Trent: 7
I’ll be honest, I am finding it so difficult to rate Trent at the minute. A) because expectations are so high that when he isn’t incredible you are left a bit unhappy even though he is better than almost everyone else, and b) because I’m not sure what we are actually asking him to do anymore so how the fuck do you mark him? He is just a big massive anomaly. I thought he was decent today, worked really hard defensively as they obviously fancied getting after us down the right. Didn’t have loads of help until the triple substitution.
Virgil: 8
Probably had more defending to do than he would have liked, but fucking hell he was pretty impervious again. Gone up a level since the turn of the year, as good as he ever was. Him and Konate were two on two and they weren’t fucking phased in the slightest. When their lad was one on one against him, tried to square him up, and then decided to abandon the counter attack because what’s the fucking point, showed how good he is.
Konate: 9
Immense tonight. Wild that he hasn’t had a game for a few weeks, we lash him in away from home in the San Siro and he is like: ‘Sappening lads, piece of piss this, isn’t it?’ He is just so good. Never mind his pace or his physique, its his positional intelligence that is his best attribute. It’s very hard being a Liverpool centre half and he makes it look easy. Well in.
Robbo: 7
Pressed really well first half but I felt, like the rest of the attackers, that he could have utilised it better when we had turned them around and were breaking.
Fabinho: 7
Does well first half to a point, gave it away a few times but is there to break it up and get The Reds playing. Along with the rest of the midfield, he did go missing at the start of the second half for 10 minutes. Great substitution to take him off and I say that as a fella who was very much not happy that he was being taken off.
Thiago: 7
Couldn’t quite impose himself first half when the game was too much of a basketball game for him to settle and play. Some great defensive contributions and starts to come into his own when the midfield got reset with the double substitution.
Elliott: 6
Along with the rest of The Reds first half, he couldn’t quite find the final pass, or couldn’t quite find the right link-up play from that attacking midfield role to warrant his inclusion. Was nearly great a couple of times. Wasn’t necessarily his fault so much as the team just wasn’t great first half when we had them exposed and were attacking their back three or four. Got lost second half when our midfield got overrun and was rightly subbed. No shame in any of that, mind you. On another night, he sets goals up first half and The Reds run amok.
Sadio: 6
Should score the header first half. Christ he should score the header first half. It’s absolutely a free one, watches it all the way. Decent overhead kick. Think he needs a haircut.
Jota: 6
Started really brightly but then goes off the boil and starts to struggle. See Ellitot above for someone who could have done so much better on the break. Him going a bit shite probably coincided with him twisting his ankle which, if we are all honest with ourselves, is fair enough, but still.
Mo: 7
Quite tonight Mo. Could have done much better first half but made a few poor decisions when we were counter attacking and the chances went away from him. Looked to be a frustrating night for him and he probably couldn’t have argued if he went off when Diaz came on, but then he gets half a sniff and slots. Great awareness and communication to tell Konate to get the fuck out of his way and he probably slots The Reds into the next round.
SUBS
Bobby: 7
I thought he was shite when he came on and then he scores a great header and, well, everything is forgotten. Does much better after the goal. Had an extra spring in his step.
Henderson: 8
Thought he was great when he came on. I think to be fair, rather than him getting a grip on the game and wrestling back control, the triple sub just helped us reset in midfield. Sort our spacing and positioning out, and start to keep the ball and control the space. Maybe he benefited from coming on fresh against tired legs. Looked much improved from Saturday’s outing.
Diaz: 8
He looks magical. Just a breath of fresh air and a complete kick in the bollocks for opposition teams to see him jog on looking surprisingly tall and hard with his short sleeves on, the mad cunt. Is Columbia freezing on the sly? Seriously?
Milner: 7
Come on and plodded about a bit, left one on someone. Would have liked him to volley that Mohican bellends Mohican clean off his kite.
Editor’s note: Soz about Naby, the comments decided he was an 8/10 so let’s go with that…
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What about Naby?
You have overlooked Keita’s contribution.
Which I would suggest should be a well deserved 8
It’s as if Naby doesn’t exist
TAW completely ignoring Naby Keita why am I not surprised
AFCON has kinda knocked the freshness out of Sadio for sure. Hope he gets back to playing on instinct and being clinical. Mo seems a bit the same way. I’m sure the goal will help him.
Naby seems more aggressive than he used to be. Good to see.