THE first game is all about winning. And we did. Winning. Keep winning. Win forever. When the Reds win….
Simon Mignolet 7
Clean sheet. More of them, mate. Not letting goals in is the mission statement. Could have released it quicker but hard to tell if it was inclination or instruction. Benteke won most of the long stuff to be fair
Nathaniel Clyne 7
As far as debuts go, difficult to fault. Could have done more going forward but I’m sure he will.
Martin Skrtel 7
Quietly assured. Headed the balls away he had to.
Dejan Lovren 8
Come on. All the pressure. All the doubts. He commanded the back line and won his battles. Show him some Lov.
Joe Gomez 7
Had some dodgy moments but come on. He’s about 11. Go ed, lad.
Jordan Henderson 7.5
Possibly the one most traumatised by the last visit. And as captain, with the most to prove. Battled hard and fought us into control. Top man.
James Milner 7
Was a bit disappointed with Jimmy but had high expectations. Will be better on the ball but certainly contributed off it.
Jordon Ibe 6
Was a bit peripheral. Needs to move towards the ball more and demand it. But he’s also 11 and that.
Philippe Coutinho 12
In America they call it most valued player. And when it mattered he turned some yard dog and kicked it right in the goal.
Adam Lallana 5
I’d worry about that Brazilian lad on the bench, mate.
Christian Benteke 7
Held the ball up well and used it great. Not quite on the wavelength of the lads behind him, but it will come.
Subs:
Emre Can 7
Big factor in turning the game. Commanding and sensible.
Roberto Firmino 5
Looked sharp for 30 seconds then behind it for the rest. Stoke is mad though.
A lot of sentimentality involved in those ratings John.But if we’re praising a player because he only looks about 11 and others because they’ managed to get over a defeat then we’re setting the bar pretty low.
It was a good result in circumstances.But remember those circumstances were of our own making.
Agreed Brian. The important thing is that that we got the 3 points but I’m sure the lads will be pushed hard in training after that performance. There’s a lot of work to be done. As long as we can grind out results while we’re finding our brilliant best.
As for Lovren and Skrtel, not sure what game you were watching…the two of them had almost no understanding. There were a few moments where they didn’t know where each other were. Surely the centre backs should have been a higher priority this summer. Skrtel does t even walk in the team for me. Sakho is probably the best of the he lot but even he has some nail biting moments. On the hehe whole I’m optimistic but our defence scares me. Can’t believe we got a clean sheet.
Go Reds! Keep working hard hard and things will fall into place.
You should look at LFC’s league results over the last 50 years at that place. That place is somewhere we rarely get a win.
It’s Most Valuable Player.
Should rate the opposition just to give Glen Johnson some more grief for old times’ sake. A 0 for the ridiculous number he’s picked. I hope they get relegated for that.
The game was a cure for insomnia for 85 minutes before Coutinho got sick of everyone’s shit. Being 5 down after half an hour was a lot of things but it definitely wasn’t boring, so I’ll sit through all the boredom you’ve got for a win. Felt different to the last couple of season’s opening days because it’s an away win which makes you feel ahead of the curve more somehow (last one Sunderland 08/09, I think).
Lovren’s Lazarus act got off to a good start as well, being part of a defence that finally stopped Adam and Jon Fucking Walters from scoring against us. Means a lot to me. If there’s a 6 goal swing our way in all our other games from last season we win all 38 games. So y’know… Easy.
What ratings will the players get when we play well? Goal apart it was an uninspiring performance to say the least. Great 3 points, superb winning goal but a midfield lacking inspiration, a new centre forward who looked rather isolated and ineffective and Lovren man of the match – at least that was different.
Stoke away 3 points, say no more!
Henderson 7.5? Come on, he was the least effective of Milner and Can when we had a proper midfield. Lallana was a liability.
We were poor for most of the match but won it thanks to a moment of magic from Coutinho. Great start, but the problem tactics from last season still there.
Analysis is sooooooooooo booooring, WE WON yeeeeaaaaaa!!!!!! In your face Charlie Adams!!! Yeeeaaaaa!!!! Why couldn’t they do this for Stevie’s last game is my only question, good job reds,
What a moment of magic from Phil. I was in the midst of convincing myself a 0-0 away to Stoke wasn’t a bad way to start the season, especially after the nightmare trip there in May, when he made that turn and unleashed what I can only describe as a strike of pure magic. I thought the game as a whole was very mediocre but then again it is the first competitive match of the season and it will take players time to get up to speed and familiar with each other. What was obvious both in pre season and yesterday though is how isolated the central striker is with the 4-3-3. Lallana and Ibe spent most of their time hugging the touchline or hoofing big aimless high balls towards the box. Having seen Lallana in Brisbane I thought wow this guy is a classy footballer, but even against inferior opposition I was worried about his pace or lack of. If you are going to play someone like Benteke he needs runners to feed off him, get in around him and play off the knock downs. He was so isolated I felt sorry for him at times as the team were firing awful passes his direction, a bit like the aimless Andy Carroll strategy. I would almost be keen to see a 4-4-2 against Bournemouth at home just to see how an Ings of Firmino would do up top off Big Bad Ben. All in all though a 1-0 away to Stoke. Will take that. YNWA
Did the game keep me on the edge of my seat? No. Did we grind out a win for 3 more points than we had at this stage last season? Yes. As much as we want to watch inspiring and exciting football, its also best to note its the first bloody game of the season.The starting 11 had a New striker, new center mid, New fullbacks and you could probably add Ibe in there too. Clearly still a work in progress. I couldnt give a rats ass if we win the next 6 games like we did against Stoke this morning (Australian time), coz they all build confidence in the team from back to front. Confidence will no doubt bring about the inspiring football we’re itching to see and the goals goals goals we’ve bought. 1 win ticked, 37 more to go….
Can we please rate players on there performance on the day, not what they did in the past and certainly not what they may well do in the future.
The amount of 7’s and higher that were given out today was a joke, sure, we won the match and at the end of the day its the 3 points that matter. But that should not influence the ratings.
Apart from the moment of magic by Phil, it never looked like we were going to score. Less of the rose tinted spectacles and a bit more honestly in the ratings is all I ask.
3 of the points awarded to each player were awarded out of relief!!
I can’t believe some of the comments here. Too much sentiment, what ratings will you give when we play well? This is a tongue in cheek analysis from a lad that went the match, written in the euphoria of three points after what was for 80minutes a bit turgid to say the least. We do get alot of brilliant written pieces on here but for once take this piece in the way that it’s intended. An honest fair reflection written in the post match buzz of our first away 3 points opening day of our season.
Most pleasing aspect of the game was it was a typical Stoke scrap fest but we more than stood up to it and were not intimidated at all. I was worried we would end with 10 as the ref clearly took a dislike to our new kit but it was good to see a few Stoke yard dogs getting bounced around. Footballing wise you could see signs of relationship building between Henderson and Milner in respect of attacking the ball as a pair and then creating space when we had possession, even if we didn’t capatalise on it. And Benteke makes a lot of intelligent runs, at pace, for a so-called Belgian Andy Carroll. Promising signs with work to be done but a great result, especially in light of other results.
I’d say a lot of 6’s would be more honest/fair. Midfield was having a hard time processing possession and creating opportunities.There weren’t major errors in defence, they only had one real open look at goal which, thankfully, Johnson couldn’t keep under the bar, he looked decent too yesterday, good for him Even Coutinho was having a bit of a hard time making something stick, but that stunner earns him a 7. This game was actually very similar to last years opening game against Southampton.
Too many miserable bastards on here! I think you all need to look in the mirror and ask yourselves why you bother with footy. Stick to knitting or kicking cats……
Don’t be an ass. It wasn’t a great performance. No one is lying or being miserable when they say that. You’re lying if you say it was a great performance.
Also, whilst I don’t think a second striker is an absolute necessity, our offensive game will benefit from having more in the way of support for Benteke/Sturridge/Ings/Origi/whoever, like Hendersons run into the box, Our midfielders really should do more of that. Otherwise our strikers will have a bit of a hard time of it again.
Thought Coutinho was very poor, goal apart obviously. One or two others (Lallana, Hendo) well below par. Collectively a very good result though, and a mention for Lovren who stood out.
made up we won, but tactics.. what tactics? hoof up field to the big man where the fast mobile midfield offer him support? ok we got the first part right but where was the midfield support? 32mil for a striker to hit long balls at.. havent we been here before?
I’m pretty happy with the whole performance, given that Stoke away has been consistently one of our toughest away games of the past 10 years. Have we ever gone there and played sweet lovely pass and move football and come out with a win ? It’s not that kind of game up there usually.
Physically we matched Stoke, which is in itself a good starting point, and yes we had to rely on a hitherto relatively absent Coutinho, but wasn’t that always the plan ? Stay in the game until 60/70 mins, and then try and make the breakthrough. Job done.
It wasn’t pretty, but i’ll take that over what happened last time, and the reaction to the goal from the players and the fans (i was in a pub), said it all.
An opening day win away at Stoke and all I see is moaning. Some of you just can’t have much fun in your lives!
You’re spot on Lee. Some of these comments are so negative. I agree some of the ratings are amplified but so bloody what! What about that goal? Talk about the fact we’ve bred a real match winner capable of banging them in from 30 yards. No, no, no – we’d rather highlight all the negative things. Success is built on confidence and a feel good factor. Buy into it or live your life in the doldrums. It’s hard enough being a L’pool fan. If you’re not celebrating the good times, what’s the point? C’mon Brendan, c’mon the Reds. Ugly wins inspire confidence. They say ‘we can win even when we’re below par’. Defence did well and Brendan deserves credit for selecting Lovren. Considering United looked a bit Luther Van, Chelsea drew and Arsenal lost, in the words of Ice T we have to say it was a good day. Can’t wait to get to Anfield for the Bournemouth game. Live on Sky. Let’s lift the roof off the place!
Apart from the piece of magic against “England’s number one” (he’s only been Stokes number one for a week!) i thought Courtinho had one of those days where it just didn’t seem to be happening for him. As everyone kept reminding me on the drive home yesterday i did say to take him off and try something else!! It was the first time though when we actually attempted something different other than walking it through the middle and simply just had a go at goal.
You’ve got to knock a couple of marks off Phil’s score though after he nearly cleared the ground with that volley, happy we can laugh about it now!!
My ratings
Simon Mignolet 7
Clean sheet. Took the sting out of their team. Did make some absurd kicks at times.
Nathaniel Clyne 8
Done well defensively. Superb header that looked a dead on goal.
Martin Skrtel 8
Defended well and we got some offsides in our favour.
Dejan Lovren 8
Defended well. Was speaking to his team. Good to see.
Joe Gomez 8
Was targeted like Can last year. Set up the goal. We came to get a draw minimum and he did his job.
Jordan Henderson 7.5
Always available. Excellent run buy poor last ball.
James Milner 8
Has brought us the dark arts. It was 2 v 3 and these guys worked hard.
Jordon Ibe 6
Tried his best. Needed to swap wings maybe.
Philippe Coutinho 9
Super goal! Changed the outlook of the game. Has power in his shots now.
Adam Lallana 6
Same as Ibe. Needs more purpose but I feel the side were cautious of stokes counters.
Christian Benteke 8
Magnet! Got us out of the defence. One moment of shear power. This was Stoke man…we never beat them but we never looked like losing!
Subs:
Emre Can 6
Was ok. Did a through ball but that’s about it.
Roberto Firmino 7
Sensible. Was doing some nice tricks and wasted time. Good to see.
A draw at Stoke was what we came for. No one knows how we can play. We have tough games to come and if we remain unpredictable then we can spring some shocks!
If Benteke’s getting an 8 out of 10, Lovren is a 10 (or more accurately a 16). And the introduction of Emre Can changed the game in our favour (however badly we still played), so I hardly see how Firmino warrants a higher rating. But I can’t really blame you, you read the kinds of article that these Player Ratings from TAW are, and of course having an informed or objective opinion goes right out the window… WTRWWAW and all that shite.
Not sure what the point of these ratings are. Doesnt matter if we win, lose or draw, most of the ratings are inflated & not in any way tied to reality.
If they were honest, over a period of time you could could use them to see a players improvement or when someone is struggling for form, but when all players are guaranteed a 5 no matter how ineffective its just a waste of time.
Are you available for birthdays, weddings and bar mitzvahs?
The ratings are done by different people from week to week, so you’re never going to have consistent scoring. It’s like Strictly: a 7 from Len Goodman is a 5 from Revel Horwood. Gibbo is Len Goodman.
Exactly (in a Scouse accent). Sevvvvennnnnnnnnn!
You read it as entertainment, not an exact science like it’s official match stats or whatever. As arbitrary as the scores out of 10 in the papers. Don’t think it’s meant to be the serious endeavour everyone’s treating it as, tbh.
Not related to much but was thinking for however anonymous Lallana was yesterday in a dogged away, I’d give him another go at home against Bournemouth because that’s a game that should be right up his street. Then unleash Firmino for his first start at Arsenal up with Coutinho and Benteke.
The result is great, but there’s no way of knowing – yet – whether the performance was a case of a workmanlike team that is utterly dependent on moments of inspiration from its most creative influence to flourish, or an example of how we’re now able to ‘dog it’ in games where opportunities for free-flowing football are limited. If it’s the latter, we could be in business this season.
That’s about right. If we continue with that shape we’ll need big performances from Bobby F and Benteke. We can’t rely on worldies every week. We tried that last season.
Pretty shit performance from an attacking sense, good defensively and good subs. Great goal too. Very impressed with Joe Gomez: he just looks right. I’ll take scrappy win at Stoke all day long, I just hope we won’t be seeing too much more route one football as the season progresses.
There was a moment where a soft Stoke lad literally bounced off Benteke and went flying when he got his mighty frame in front of the ball. Glorious to see.
Can’t wait to see more of Firmino.
Can is Der Kaiser 2.0.
Coutinho’s a wizard and his foot’s a wand.
Some of these comments are so negative. I agree some of the ratings are amplified but so what! C’mon Brendan, c’mon the Reds. Ugly wins inspire confidence. They say ‘we can win even when we’re below par’. Defence did well and Brendan deserves credit for selecting Lovren. Considering United looked a bit Luther Van, Chelsea drew and Arsenal lost, in the words of Ice T we have to say it was a good day. Can’t wait to get to Anfield for the Bournemouth game. Live on Sky. Let’s lift the roof off the place!
Watched the Bournemouth game at the weekend and they really do struggle to deal with big fellas in their box, which is promising for us.
Lallana’s fought hard to earn his place on the bench, so I’d give Firmino a shot there and possibly even Origi in place of Ibe. Still think Ibe is the ultimate off-the-bench asset, for now.
The last thing a tired Charlie Daniels wants to see after an hour’s sprinting up and down is Ibe getting ready to speed down that wing.
Please stop doing these. If you’re not going to show a semblance of objectivity, please just stop. They’re really not amusing or funny, so either provide a serious assessment of the players or don’t bother with it.
And to the ones finding this to be moaning after a win, know that I’m over the moon after yesterday’s three points and that Coutinho goal. And it very well may be that it’s just us slowly getting into the new season while we find our rhytm and hit higher gears (after all, we did start 13/14 with three dodgy 1:0s), but yesterday was cause for legitimate concern with regards to our attacking play. Sugarcoating a win by a single, not only moment of brilliance, but simply a chance (if that goal even qualifies as such) as an indication of things to come and great season could turn out to look pretty stupid in hindsight. Try and wait for an attacking performance of even just a little bit of sustained quality before handing out 12s and 7s all round.
Hi John
Just for some balance to the post above …
I find them amusing so please keep doing them.
Just stop reading them,
Simples,
Others quite enjoy them.
Well in red men ,let’s see how many others get thee points there . Let’s not get to uptight with the game the result the important thing at this stage.
If I sign up and pay my fiver. Is there a way of hiding some of the twitter like posters.
Twitter is only 140 characters. You’re overly generous on here.
Don’t know what i enjoyed more here, the match ratings or the fume that they caused in the comments. Lighten up, lads – Read each, crack a smile and remember that these are the match ratings of the champions elect.
My God. A lot of lads here getting very wound up by some generous ratings. 1-0 away to Stoke is a belter of a result. Glenn Whelan quietly edges battles against many top midfielders at home so we should be happy. It’s only because he passed Phil on to Sidwell that we got the breakthrough. We are going to win the league!
This is a red site for red supporters, lads who love LFC and just want us to win. Fuck off to Opta if you want serious analysis and debate. 1-0 at Stoke.. Enjoy it before you know it we could be playing like last year all over again. The ratings are a pure piece of fun, I won’t be picking my fantasy team based on them. Only 12 for The Little Magician ? He deserved more for that sublime strike alone. Kings kept a clean sheet.
Gomez was excellent for a kid, Walters is no mug. Loren proved me and countless others wrong. Clyne was sublime. Skyrtel the old romper stomper was still on the beach. Hendo and Milner worked their socks off. Ibe and Lallana were never quite in it and Big Ben put in a decent shift without much support. Can and Bobby both had decent cameos..1-0 at Stoke onwards and upwards !
Except that the game against Stoke yesterday, was very much us playing like last season (just not like we did against Stoke last season).
Far too many divvy’s taking the ratings too seriously here.
Great ratings, John. I always enjoy your lighthearted take on how the lads played. If people want boring arse player ratings in order to make their life feel satisfied for the week then I recommend following John Cross and his shite spouting Daily Mirror.
Have a day off ay lads, it’s a laugh. #WLWWAW
If the other top four contenders grind out a win there we’ll be calling it a title winning performance, but when some of us are commenting on the team we support! He’s a liability! He’s lucky to be in the team!
We won at Stoke.
When the reds win, we all win.