Well that was an improvement and to some extent I was quite happy with our performance. We didn't let Chelsea play, we swarmed around them every time they had the ball. I thought our energy levels and work rate was fantastic last night.
While in possession I thought we were out of ideas at times and still struggled a bit, but this is Chelsea we were playing who are obviously a very good side and are very good at putting men behind the ball and counter attacking. The equaliser eventually came and it was thoroughly deserved, we worked hard to get that goal.
I haven't seen any of the replays or highlights yet but from where I was it seemed Clattenburg had a terrible game and he was giving them everything. So we had to cope with that too.
In my opinion, a draw was probably a fair result in the end. Although we were the better side, I don't think either team did enough to win the game and we sort of cancelled each other out.
Mignolet - I'll have to watch the free kick again but he looked all over the place and it seemed he wasn't concentrating or switched on for it. Maybe I'm wrong? His distribution was poor at times and I cannot stand all this passing it around to the back four bollocks putting us under pressure. That said, I gave him MOTM for his penalty save because at the end of the day, if Costa scores that then we lose.
Clyne - I thought Clyne had an excellent game. Defended superbly and got forward well too.
Matip - Looks very rusty on the ball at the moment. Usually he's so calm but I counted a few times him giving the ball away. Apart from that he defended fairly well and kept Costa quiet.
Lovren - Defended well for most parts but him and Mignolet together put us under some real pressure at times. Somebody needs to tell Lovren to just get rid of the ball sometimes.
Milner - It was a typical James Milner performance really, gave it his all, battled for 90mins. He made a few mistakes and lost the ball similar to Matip and Lovren, but in general played well.
Hendo - A captain like performance. Covered so much ground and worked his socks off. Always looking to get on the ball too. His crosses into the box caused Chelsea all sorts of problems and one we scored a goal from.
Wijnaldum - He too covered so much ground and worked his socks off. I think his second half was much stronger than his first and as the game went on he just grew into it more and more. Pleased to see him get on the score sheet he needs to chip in with more goals and assists.
Can - Hopeless. He really is garbage and Klopp needs to drop him. The crowd are really starting to get on his back now too. His decision making is dreadful and he has no quality anyway. He was the only player who I thought had a poor game for us last night.
Lallana - He doesn't give the opposition a minutes peace. As soon as they have the ball its Lallana who is the first one to close down and the rest of our lads follow him. Worked very hard last night, thought he played well.
Firmino - Much better in the middle than he has been out wide. He might have missed a sitter, but he battled and battled all game. When he tracked back and won the ball with a slide tackle was fantastic. His link up play at times is just pure class too. He needs to start in the middle for us every single game.
Coutinho - Showed the same work rate as the other lads but wasn't his night on the ball really, struggled to make things happen.
Klopp - Apart from starting with Can or taking him off in the game, he got everything right. He quite clearly put a rocket up everybodys arse and we were well up for this game. His record against the top 6 side remains unbeaten.
Just like to say I thought the atmosphere was great last night too. Shame it isn't like that on a Saturday against Wolves, Plymouth, Hull etc. There was a real buzz around the place though, it was class.
To summarise, although we didn't create that many chances, we deserved something out of the game just from our work rate alone. I said in the post Wolves match that wolves wanted it more than we did which was so disappointing to see, well last night we wanted it more than Chelsea and we out fought and out battled them. That's all you can ask. If each player gives 100% then no matter what happens whether we win lose or draw I will walk away happy. So well done lads, it was a great effort.
One last thing, when I was leaving the ground last night it appeared that somebody had suffered a heart attack in the upper centenary. There was a real panic with several stewards etc rushing to him. I don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere but I hope the guy is safe and well.
Logged