Liverpool 3-2 Tottenham: In game and Post Match Celebration

weird how people are saying Ibe showed Markovic how it's done. I was hoping for better out of Ibe with a few things I saw from the game. but I want to hear from more experienced football brains about that one. There were a few instances where I felt Ibe held it way too long and didn't give it to a number of options, one or two of these lead to him losing the ball. I guess what people can see is that his natural wing game is excellent and now he just needs to learn how to gel with the team and where everybody is moving.

Put it this way, we actually looked like scoring every time Jordan had the ball at his feet. He is comfortable on the ball and knows how to work it out of tight spots. Stands his man up when one on one and gets at them.

Lazar, right now, has a woeful first touch. And after a few strides doesn't know what to do if things don't open up for him. One time he received a long ball with no one in front of him (around the 30 minute mark) and his first touch when bringing it down went miles to the left of him when he had to let it run across his body and take it head on goal.

Then when Coutinho released him in the second half with Sturridge running forward he got to the top of the box and didn't know what to do so he played a hopeless cross in that was about 5 metres in front of Sturridge.

That's just two examples but he needs some time with Brendan to develop. Right now he is a one trick pony but so was Raheem when he first entered the team. That worked out pretty well. He's playing different roles so hopefully he can develop at the same rate and show more like he did against Sunderland.

Put it this way, we actually looked like scoring every time Jordan had the ball at his feet. He is comfortable on the ball and knows how to work it out of tight spots. Stands his man up when one on one and gets at them.

Lazar, right now, has a woeful first touch. And after a few strides doesn't know what to do if things don't open up for him. One time he received a long ball with no one in front of him (around the 30 minute mark) and his first touch when bringing it down went miles to the left of him when he had to let it run across his body and take it head on goal.

Then when Coutinho released him in the second half with Sturridge running forward he got to the top of the box and didn't know what to do so he played a hopeless cross in that was about 5 metres in front of Sturridge.

That's just two examples but he needs some time with Brendan to develop. Right now he is a one trick pony but so was Raheem when he first entered the team. That worked out pretty well. He's playing different roles so hopefully he can develop at the same rate and show more like he did against Sunderland.

Markovic is still finding his feet in the Pl, I think he's going to be a cracking player, he just needs to plan ahead more when he gets the ball, but that'll come with experience. In full flight he'll terrify defenders.
Ibe looks full of confidence, great to see that at such a young age, he's going to be another cracker.

Going to be a quality team in a couple of years once the young ones mature. That's if we don't sell them off.

That Sakho yellow card was one of the funniest things I have seen in ages. I think we might lose him for the duration of the 6 Nations 

My Micky ratings.

Mignolet. Again very impressive, didn't put a foot wrong. One World class save, one unerringly accurate offside call for their second goal (where incidentally his save from the free kick was brilliant) and sound work all round. 8/10.

Can: This lad is really beginning to go through the gears as a footballer. The improvement of him in particular puts those of us who have been uber critical of the "committee" in an uncomfortable spot. It seems only fair to mention him alongside the likes of Alberto and Aspas. At the moment looks excellent in defence and potentially something special in midfield. My MOM. 9/10.

Skrtel: Another excellent display from the most improved centre half in the Prem. 8/10.

Sakho: Caught in two minds on occasions and could have done better for their first goal. Good foul though when he took the yellow. 6/10.

Ibe: Had his hands full with Erikkson but handled him well. Thus kid is going to be a monster player. Silly to say it, but reminds me a little of John Barnes. 8/10.

Henderson: Didn't seem to trust himself or his partner sometimes, but this was a much better display than Saturday from him. 7/10.

Gerrard: Was passed around too easily and isn't mobile enough to play back there against a team which swarms. Obviously still loads of quality when on the ball, but we missed Lucas in that spot last night. 6/10.

Markovic: I thought he was a little disappointing. He didn't fit in with the press on too many occasions which left us with a weakness in our blanket, and was too often wasteful in possession. 6/10, and it would have been one less but for his goal.

Coutinho: His poorest game for six weeks. When you play high risk football though sooner or later you'll have a stinker, here was his. 5/10.

Sturridge: Our only exponent of the dark arts won us the penalty with a "he drew the foul" manoeuvre. Clearly not yet 100% and naturally reluctant to turn the after-burners on, he still looks absolute class. 7/10.

Subs: Lallana: Looked an improvement on Markovic and made the winner. 7/10.

Ballotelli: One swallow doesn't make a summer, but it was a good goal. 7/10.

Future captain. Looked very solid and motivated when he came on. Time for him to rise like a Phoenix from the bargain bin. 7/10.

Brendan. Good subs, but played a little too open IMHO. Still, another win so well in boss. 8/10.

My Micky ratings.

Mignolet. Again very impressive, didn't put a foot wrong. One World class save, one unerringly accurate offside call for their second goal (where incidentally his save from the free kick was brilliant) and sound work all round. 8/10.

Can: This lad is really beginning to go through the gears as a footballer. The improvement of him in particular puts those of us who have been uber critical of the "committee" in an uncomfortable spot. It seems only fair to mention him alongside the likes of Alberto and Aspas. At the moment looks excellent in defence and potentially something special in midfield. My MOM. 9/10.

Skrtel: Another excellent display from the most improved centre half in the Prem. 8/10.

Sakho: Caught in two minds on occasions and could have done better for their first goal. Good foul though when he took the yellow. 6/10.

Ibe: Had his hands full with Erikkson but handled him well. Thus kid is going to be a monster player. Silly to say it, but reminds me a little of John Barnes. 8/10.

Henderson: Didn't seem to trust himself or his partner sometimes, but this was a much better display than Saturday from him. 7/10.

Gerrard: Was passed around too easily and isn't mobile enough to play back there against a team which swarms. Obviously still loads of quality when on the ball, but we missed Lucas in that spot last night. 6/10.

Markovic: I thought he was a little disappointing. He didn't fit in with the press on too many occasions which left us with a weakness in our blanket, and was too often wasteful in possession. 6/10, and it would have been one less but for his goal.

Coutinho: His poorest game for six weeks. When you play high risk football though sooner or later you'll have a stinker, here was his. 5/10.

Sturridge: Our only exponent of the dark arts won us the penalty with a "he drew the foul" manoeuvre. Clearly not yet 100% and naturally reluctant to turn the after-burners on, he still looks absolute class. 7/10.

Subs: Lallana: Looked an improvement on Markovic and made the winner. 7/10.

Ballotelli: One swallow doesn't make a summer, but it was a good goal. 7/10.

Future captain. Looked very solid and motivated when he came on. Time for him to rise like a Phoenix from the bargain bin. 7/10.

Brendan. Good F***ing Great subs, but played a little too open IMHO. Still, another win so well in boss. 8/10.

Corrected that for you Mick! 

Incredibly on their cock of a forum yer cokkanee wankers reckon they would have won the game if it wasn't for the ref!?
The soft cu*ts know even less about football than the manc glory hunters.
How about it the opposing side failed to turn up you nobheads would that have helped your cause?
F***ing idiots are finding their level as a mid-table also ran club with delusions of grandeur.

 loved this on twitter
https://t.co/R1Px2FnSpL

Tottenham surprised me last night. I was expecting us to win 3-0, was quite surprised to see an evenly matched game. They are a decent team them and will probably be in the running for 4th come May. I always presumed they would drop off.

Thought we played pretty well. The back 3 and Migs and growing in confidence each game. Can is an absolute beast.

Henderson was awful until Gerrard went off and then he noticeably got more involved in the game. Thought Stevie was having a shocker too. Dembele bullied the pair of them and ran the midfield all night.

Ibe had another promising game. Don't think he played as well as people are suggesting but he did have a decent game. I'm just not going to go over the top about it.

Markovic did well in bits but faded as the game went on. Still a bit of a shithouse for me. Coutinho als played well in parts but again faded as the game went on.

Sturridge looked a yard off the pace but a 70 minutes run out would have done some good for him.

Well played to the boss for making a couple of subs and it paying off. Takes some balls bringing gerrard and sturridge off (even if they did have knocks) and putting on two players who have had poor seasons for us but both delivered.

Individually we weren't that great (apart from Can) but we worked hard as a team and deserved the 3 points - without Lucas and Sterling too, two of our key players.

Well done boys. The race for fourth is on!

Fantastic display full of energy. Disagree with Gerrards criticizm. Superb on the ball, his quick switches of play opened up a lot of space and made the oppo tiring. Won some important defensive headers and a put a couple crucial tackles in. Cool penalty as well.
At this rate, we will finish second. Shame we dont have any chance to catch chavs. The gap is too big at this stage.

Gerrard: Was passed around too easily and isn't mobile enough to play back there against a team which swarms. Obviously still loads of quality when on the ball, but we missed Lucas in that spot last night. 6/10.

To pick up that point about "swarming".
Spurs looked a different team this time around.
They had clearly worked on opening up the back 3 and getting in behind Henderson and Gerrard.
It very nearly worked.

I think it's become abundantly clear that, for this system to work,
there needs to be a more mobile midfielder in that role.

Can is a powerhouse, even at his young age, and the biggest worry I had about moving him to
midfield was that he had been part of a resurgent defence. Thankfully Lovren seems to have calmed
down a bit.

Apparently every player touched the ball in the build up to the third goal..

Fantastic display full of energy. Disagree with Gerrards criticizm. Superb on the ball, his quick switches of play opened up a lot of space and made the oppo tiring. Won some important defensive headers and a put a couple crucial tackles in. Cool penalty as well.
At this rate, we will finish second. Shame we dont have any chance to catch chavs. The gap is too big at this stage.

I agree with you on Gerrard. I thought he did ok last night -  some nice crisp passing, actually broke up play few times and calm as ever from the spot.

Great result made up for Mario hopefully he and Sturridge can form a great partnership, we should test it out in the FA cup v Palace.
Negitive point and its a big one but Gerrard as a DM doesnt work and it in fact hinders us as hendo takes a back seat and we tend to be walked over. i would put Can in there bench Gerrard now and only use as a sub as he's going anyway so might as well start playing without him. then bring Lallana in a bit more either out wide or as no 10

What a game last night. Me and my son watched it and both said that's how the game should be played and how much we've improved.

Migs : What a difference, From low on confidence and probably one of the worst keepers in the league, at the time, to pulling off worldys like last night. Only mistake was coming out for that ball against kane in the 1st half.

Our back 3 look really good now but the boy Can has to be pushed into midfield now. He's our version of what Yaya Toure can do in a game. More impressed every time I see him. I,m sure Lovren can do a job there now and with a resurgent Skrtle next to him why not. Sakho was Sakho again last night. His feet look too big for his body when he's on the ball but still a good performance and a good rugby tackle.

Henderson looked off last night but that's not surprising when he didn't have lucas next to him. I know that Stevie is a legend but this swapping and changing all the time is not doing Hendo any good for me. I'd be pissed if one game I was captain and then the next I'm not. Sorry.

I would,nt be too worried about Sterlings contract when we,ve got Ibe waiting in the wings just to step right in there, this boy is good. Markovic, well I'm not going to be too harsh on him. Its his 1st season, hes being asked to play in multiple positions and hes only 20. He did get a goal aswell, I think hes going to be a very good player. Moreno is just doing his bit nothing that special to say about it, still young and raw. Coutinho was anonymous last night but he's allowed to have an off game for me, the boy is pure class.

Sturridge is still not up to full fitness but you can just tell what a difference he's going to make to the side...class. Glad Mario got his goal. If Brendan can get this boy playing with the same attitude as the rest of the squad has in regards to work rate and pressing then BR should get a massive bonus. There's a world class player in there some where. I think Lovren and Lallana should get more game time now.

Markovic is still finding his feet in the Pl, I think he's going to be a cracking player, he just needs to plan ahead more when he gets the ball, but that'll come with experience. In full flight he'll terrify defenders.Ibe looks full of confidence, great to see that at such a young age, he's going to be another cracker.

But Marko's had more PL game time than Ibe, some of these things just come naturally.

I agree with you though, Markovic still feels like a bit of a rough diamond who needs a bit more strength and definitely needs to work on his first touch. It may be that Ibe has come through the ranks in this country and he's naturally stronger than Marko so the game suits him well.

Either way, both will be excellent players for us, and great to see them both providing competition for the first 11.

Due to a bad decision on my part (which has turned out to be a good decision) I missed the match with work. Luckily I managed to avoid the result all night and was able to enjoy the game when I got home. What an enjoyment it was as well. Weren't at our best but got the win, that's all we can ask for. As long as we keep picking up these of results, we'll be fine.

Keep the run going, another victory. Closing the gap on those above us. Still unbeaten in the League in 2015 - four wins, two draws. Our last seven League goals have been scored by 7 different players - Borini, Lambert, Sterling, Sturridge, Markovic, Gerrard, Balotelli. Goals from everybody. Happy F***ing days!

Mignolet - probably his worst game of 2015, not because we conceded two goals but was a little more tentative that recently has been. Kicking was back to aim for the right wing and not much else. Could of done better with Kane's goal as well I reckon.

Can - was immense again, both as a centre half and in the middle of the park. When he runs with the ball, people just bounce off him. He's a F***ing tank. Defensively, he's getting better. He's still not a centre half but he's doing so well there that he's keeping his place there.

Skrtel - remains the most improved player of 2015. I said it after the Everton game (I think) that this system suits him as well as anybody. And he's continuing to prove why. Another strong performance from the Slovakian. Back to his defensive best.

Mamadou Hansen - had a difficult time against Everton because they pressured him, Spurs started along the same lines. It does seem Mammy Do struggles more when he isn't given time on the ball - due to the way he takes his time to pass it. As the game went on though he got better. Made a couple of very good defensive interceptions.

Ibe - is proving why we didn't need to fork out the money we did on the summer on certain signings. Rather than spending time at Pride Park, he should of been at Anfield all year. He's sheer quality. And thankfully, he's back doing it in a Liverpool shirt. He's got the balls to run at players, that alone deserves a place in the team. He's not one of those shitbag players who takes the easy option, he runs at the opposition and puts the fear of God into them. Another great performance from Jordy I.

Henderson - looked quite lost in the first half, didn't quite seem to know what his role was in the team. Then in the second half, he grew into the game and started controlling the game. No major F**k ups but nothing spectacular either. A decent performance from Jordy H.

Gerrard - scored yet another penalty, there's nobody you'd rather have in those positions. And he got subbed about 15 minutes later. In between he offered us nothing. It's hard to say but Stevie shouldn't be in the starting XI any more. Makes it even harder because if he doesn't play, it probably means Joe Allen will (or we F**k about with the defence).

Moreno - put in another solid display. Sound in both halves without really excelling in either. In this current system, he always seems to be our out ball. He's always there in space. Not happy to see him backheeling the ball by our own corner flag, but it didn't cost us.

Markovic - scored a good individual goal and had a good first fifteen minutes. Then he done about as much as Pegguy Arphexad did in his Liverpool career. Oh and then he went off just to remind us all that he was still on the pitch.

Coutinho - probably his quietest game for a long time. Didn't do anything of any note. Hopefully just a one off from Little Phil.

Sturridge - was great to see him back but F**k me he missed some sitters, especially for somebody of his quality. His movement alone though is considerably better than anything else we've got. His running in behind was a constant problem for Spurs, who looked sh*t at the back. If we finish below them, it'd be a calamity.

Lovren - came on, did nothing. Which given his career in a Liverpool shirt so far, probably isn't a bad thing. He's had such a difficult time here, that not being noticed is an upturn. Now all we need now is for him to be noticed for good things.

Balotelli - came on for Sturridge. Didn't do anything apart from score, that's what a forward is there to do. Let's not kid ourselves though, he's not suddenly the answer to our prayers. Was a good finish as well.

Lallana - came on but didn't really have enough time to get up to speed with the game and do anything. Got the assist for the winner with a drilled ball into the six yard box. No daft drop of the shoulders or drag backs for no reason - that's an improvement.

All in all, a big win. A welcomed one at that, especially after the drab Derby. Couldn't afford not to win. Well in Reds!!! (especially for shutting those Cockney F***ing cu*ts up - christ I hate Spurs fans)

Great penno as usual from Gerrard but it was clear as night and day the way the midfield improved after he went off.

The opposition find it so easy to play 1-2's to bypass him and his tendency to ball watch just allows runners into dangerous positions, no great surprise if he had minimal interception last night because of his lack of positioning to anticipate danger. We would have won comfortably last night with Lucas.

Poor Hendo must be well pissed off having to act as his water carrier covering both sides of the midfield and be expected to provide a forward prescence.
Although he was also guilty for the first goal by not following Lamela.

Legend that he is no one should be allowed a farewell tour.

What a game! Had a little bit of everything to it.
Migs: Great performance, I hope he keeps up the good work he's been putting in since the New Year.
Can: What a player. Looks like he could be the future of our defense, as well as our central midfield. Strong, skilled and composed. What a buy.
Skrtel: Solid as a rock. Very underrated and undervalued at many times.
Sahko: Scares the sh*t out of me at times, but comes up big when he needs to (except for that first goal, albeit he slipped).
Moreno: Good but not great. I'll take it.
Ibe: What a prospect. I remember watching him in the US pre-season tour, and thinking he would play a major role this season. I actually think he looks more dangerous running at defenders than Sterling (as of the last few months). The end product is better at least.
Gerrard: Too harsh of criticism on here for him. Thought he did pretty well. Quite a few clearing headers and timely tackles. Moved the ball around efficiently. Penalty was as good as it gets.
Hendo: Average game from him. He looks best when Lucas partners him. Maybe/hopefully he and Can will be just as good in there.
MarkovicL Besides the goal, a little below average. His decision making, or I guess more of passing accuracy, really needs to improve. He will do so well running with the ball, then make such a terrible pass that turns it over. He is behind Couts/Sterling/Lallana/Ibe in that position for me.
Couts: As poor as he's been in quite a long time. It happens, hopefully it won't happen again for another long spell.
Studge: Looked lively. Intelligent and pacey runs, always looks a threat. The finishing will come.

Lovren: Looked solid, comfortable and confident. I really rated him before this season, and hopefully this is a turning point and will come into that back three and add to it so Can can move forward.
Lallana: I really rate him. I think he needs to get into that starting lineup more consistently so he can make a spot his own. Always seems like he starts one, then subs three. He is definitely more of a scoring threat (both scoring and assisting) than Markovic.
Mario: Finally, the goal. Hopefully he will springboard off of this game and be the compliment to the team we all know he can be. I bet deep down, Rickie and Borini hated seeing that goal. There time has diminished even more now.

Onward and upward. Top 4 is right there now, we need to keep rolling like last year. Anything is possible!

Cracking match.
Not the best technically as there were too many errors from both sides, but a wide open exhibition of attacking play that was great to watch.

The only thing that spoiled it was the ref.

Cracking match.
Not the best technically as there were too many errors from both sides, but a wide open exhibition of attacking play that was great to watch.

The only thing that spoiled it was the ref.

the ref thing was strange - no real dirty challenges but there were about 257 yellow cards.... or threrabouts 

Apparently every player touched the ball in the build up to the third goal..

Thats foooking boss I say..!! Anyone got a video?!

I put down Migs as man of the match, he has surprised me how he has improved. That aside, what a win that was, I keep saying we don't win big games but last night was a big game and we won it, with a fully fit SAS I think we can get 4th.....

Spurs are no longer a pushover and they looked dangerous. Saints next, win that one and we are motoring.