So many positives. Easiest man of the match vote I've ever casted, what a player Sterling is and going to become.
Sturridge played really well on the ball as some have said and looked a lot more threatening with Balo next to him. 2 up front is the way forward for me. And I actually thought Balo did well, he held ball up, he created space and got about his business. Needs a bit more game time to be back to his best after playing in slowcoah Italy, but a decent start.
Hendo has to be one of our most consistent and important players now. He has some engine on him and love his determination until the end. Lovren and Sakho partnership clearly needs a bit more time together, but it's definitely my preferred partnership at the back. There were a few nervous moments, but overall, those two did not give Tottenham a chance. 1 shot on target (plus I think it was 8 attempts on goal vs our 17 tells a story). Moreno...awesome goal, great performance, the lad is clearly here to make that LB his place. Made up for him. Great celebration in the end too.
Thought Manquillo did ok, but would like to see Flanno converted to RB when he's back. I wasn't as impressed with Allen as some have suggested. I thought he did his job and did it ok, but not a performance that has convinced me he should be starting regularly. Against non-physical sides like Tottenham, he does ok. When he comes up against more aggressive sides like City, Chelsea, Stoke et al, he get's bullied off the ball easily. That's why I think it's important to bring Can up to speed very quickly. I also didn't think this was one of Stevie's good performances. He gave the ball away too easily on a few occasions and he wasn't as sharp as the others in the midfield. Took his penalty really well as expected and provides the leadership needed but I have to say (I know I'll get cruicified for saying this), after this season, I'm not sure he shoulod be in the starting line up. I think in Lovren, Hendo (and possibly Llalana), we have decent captains-in-waiting.
There were so many positives, but the biggest thing for me was that last season, it took us 7 or 8 games to start performing like this. If we can start doing this so early on, knowing we'll only get better, I'm so optimistic. We even had Coutinho, Markovic and Can on the bench, with Lllalana, Flanno and Skrtl to come back. The future is bright, and it isn't orange.
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