Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool: In game and Post Match debate

Aside from his brilliant goal, and performance in the last 15 minutes, Couts was anonymous for most of the game. Even though very few covered themselves with utter glory, quite how he's accumulated 40+ votes for man of the match is beyond me.

Over the 90 minutes, I'd say the motm has to go to either Lovren (yes Lovren), Skittles or Clyne. That said, if Can had played a second more than his 20 or so he was given, he'd have got it. Game changed when he came on for Lallana. We had direction and he literally took the game to Stoke. We pressed them from that moment on. Not to mention that last ditch sliding tackle he did whilst a Stoke player was building a head of steam toward our goal.

Couts' strike will have me smiling all tonight and tomorrow, but he was nowhere near man of the match. If that's the case, then Kyle Walker was man of the match at Old Toilet yesterday.

/Rant off

He won MOTM because he was the difference. Plus i actually thought up until the goal we still our most exciting player.

I don't like the one up front.  Benteke was far too isolated.  Was the same story last year.  When did Brendan completely forget about Sturridge and Suarez forming a strike partnership?

Yeah, I hate one up front. Also, some of our best football was when we played 442 diamond in the 13/14 season, something that we really should be looking into as we have the players in my opinion.

Anyway, Emre Can needs to play a whole lot more.

I'd still have Lucas ahead of Can, but maybe for home games he should replace Milner or Hendo.

And Ibe, despite having promise, isn't the finished article so may still have to work for his place in the side.

Couldn't agree more! He is too one dimensional and predictable for me. I'd have him as an impact sub tbh.

I've slagged them off for being pretty f**king hopeless all last season, so it's only fair that I give credit to Mignolet and Lovren who didn't give me any cause for concern today.  (Although I remember Lovren had a good opening game last season!)

I didn't think it was a demanding game for our CB's, Stoke were poor, just like us. Would still have Sakho ahead of Lovren.

Yeah, I hate one up front. Also, some of our best football was when we played 442 diamond in the 13/14 season, something that we really should be looking into as we have the players in my opinion.

I'd still have Lucas ahead of Can, but maybe for home games he should replace Milner or Hendo.
Couldn't agree more! He is too one dimensional and predictable for me. I'd have him as an impact sub tbh.

I didn't think it was a demanding game for our CB's, Stoke were poor, just like us. Would still have Sakho ahead of Lovren.

DEFINITELY not Lucas for me. Far too slow, runs through treacle, and he's not getting better with age.

Can for me.

I was peeved with Coutinho during the game for being wasteful in possession. Then he pulls that one out of the bag!

Lallana was piss poor today. Ibe isn't ready to be starting games for us yet I feel. Lovren had a great game.

Delighted to grab a win despite the shoddy attacking performance. I hope it's not indicative of what's to come this season - I'm going to put it down to the fact it's an away game at Stoke.

On a side note, Benteke is an absolute tank. Couldn't believe my eyes as their defenders bounced off him!

DEFINITELY not Lucas for me. Far too slow, runs through treacle, and he's not getting better with age.

Can for me.

Lucas never really had pace and is probably our most intelligent midfielder in that defensive midfield role. He proved it last season and if he's given a chance, I'm sure he'll prove it again.

was not a great performance  what mated today was we get the 3 points under our belts,
must say we improved after Lallana went off

Footy is back and we're back winning. F**k the performance, you get three points for winning when you play just like you do if you win when playing sh*te. We played sh*te and we F***ing won to top off what has been a great weekend for me. England won the Ashes, mam and dad celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary and Liverpool opened the season with three points, and a clean sheet to boot. All in all, a F***ing good weekend for me.

Mignolet done everything he was asked to do very well. Looked confident.

Clyne is the best right back in the League and today he showed some real quality. Looked sound defensively and aided us with the odd flirt up the field, the way a defender should be.

Skrtel looked a little shaky in the first half but had a much improved second forty-five.

Lovren had his best game in a Liverpool shirt as far as I'm concerned. Still had the odd iffy moment but much better than what we saw last season.

Gomez was the stand out performer of the new players in pre-season and was rewarded with a starting berth today. For me, he did very little wrong. Played well enough to retain his place for the Bournemouth game.

Henderson did little of any note but I don't recall too many Stoke midfielders running past our central pairing, so he must have done something right.

Milner was a carbon copy of Henderson.

Ibe showed glimpses of his brilliance but had the odd glimpse of his inexperience as well.

Coutinho did one thing right all day and it resulted in us winning the game, well done Phil lad.

Lallana put in a typical Lallana performance, nothing of note other than holding onto the ball for too long for too often.

Benteke did the best with what little he could feed off. Most long balls he won, not his fault if there's nobody there to pick up the second ball.

Can was very good when he came on, he looks more like a twenty-thirty minute player than a full ninety.

Firmino didn't get the chance to showcase what he's about but I liked the look of the lad from the little he did show.

It's a win!

Onto Anfield next Monday to tw*t Bournemouth to move top of the League.

Got to say even after some reflection that is a really great 3 points and well deserved.

Aside from his brilliant goal, and performance in the last 15 minutes, Couts was anonymous for most of the game. Even though very few covered themselves with utter glory, quite how he's accumulated 40+ votes for man of the match is beyond me.

Over the 90 minutes, I'd say the motm has to go to either Lovren (yes Lovren), Skittles or Clyne. That said, if Can had played a second more than his 20 or so he was given, he'd have got it. Game changed when he came on for Lallana. We had direction and he literally took the game to Stoke. We pressed them from that moment on. Not to mention that last ditch sliding tackle he did whilst a Stoke player was building a head of steam toward our goal.

Couts' strike will have me smiling all tonight and tomorrow, but he was nowhere near man of the match. If that's the case, then Kyle Walker was man of the match at Old Toilet yesterday.

/Rant off

I was all set to give it to Skrtel meself, but seeing as Coutinho was effectively the difference between drawing and winning the game as well as being the only player who looked to do anything creative with the ball. Based on that I'd say the MOM award was deserved.

I actually went with Can as MOTM. His introduction changed the side and freed Milner and Henderson up a bit to get forward. The midfield looked more dynamic with him in it, which in turn freed Coutinho, etc.

Think Coutinho was given motm for a brilliant strike, in otherwise drab game. Also a win and also 3 points away at Stoke, not a bad return compared to the end of last season.

I don't like the one up front.  Benteke was far too isolated.  Was the same story last year.  When did Brendan completely forget about Sturridge and Suarez forming a strike partnership?

I agree with this. Very surprised he didn't throw Ings on to replace or partner Benteke and give us more movement up front. What Benteke did he did well but he never looked like getting a goal.

I agree with this. Very surprised he didn't throw Ings on to replace or partner Benteke and give us more movement up front. What Benteke did he did well but he never looked like getting a goal.

I was surprised Firmino wasn't the player to come in and partner Benteke. It seemed as if he was just shafted to the right rather than push up close to Benteke and support him.

Must admit I'm surprised how many people think Lovren had a good game, personally thought he got pulled out of position far too often, even ending up by the sidelines on a couple of occasions to which Skrtel bailed him out numerous times.

I'd say I'd catch the highlights on MotD but something tells me our game will be near the bottom of the listings with fair justification this time.

Stoke is a tough place to go,for me it was a typical opening fixture,you are not going to be playing your best football on the opening day of the season,as Arsenal and the chavs have found out,both dropping points at home:) we got the 3 points,and with Sturridge to come back,hopefully he can stay fit,we have a lot to be positive about this season.

Must admit I'm surprised how many people think Lovren had a good game, personally thought he got pulled out of position far too often, even ending up by the sidelines on a couple of occasions to which Skrtel bailed him out numerous times.

I'd say I'd catch the highlights on MotD but something tells me our game will be near the bottom of the listings with fair justification this time.

Think he got caught one or two times but no more than that. Lovren was brilliant in the air today and made a couple of his own last ditch tackles. Think Skrtel was a lot more worrying than Lovren today, especially in his lack lusted passing across the defense and towards Migs, nearly cost us twice.

Think he got caught one or two times but no more than that. Lovren was brilliant in the air today and made a couple of his own last ditch tackles. Think Skrtel was a lot more worrying than Lovren today, especially in his lack lusted passing across the defense and towards Migs, nearly cost us twice.

Fair enough, I can remember one back pass that put us under slight pressure but even Migs managed to get there and he's not exactly Usain Bolt off his line

With Lovren I just thought he went chasing the ball on too many occasions leaving a massive space behind him, better teams would have exploited that and thankfully it was Adam and Johnson who couldn't take advantage. When your CB is out on the sidelines and they have midfielders running into the box you really do have to question the decision making.

Granted he won a few headers but I personally didn't think there were many he wasn't favourite for anyway. Perhaps I'm being harsh on the lad in that respect and will watch if there are any highlights. However in respect of rushing out to the sidelines or trying to get in front of the man to knick the ball when people are running in behind you, I personally don't like that as a decision unless you're chasing the game and having to take risks, the reward simply isn't worth it.

I think that Lovren improved massively from last season, he needs to show it every match now.

Milner and Henderson are Toyota, nothing special but reliable.

Great result!

Footy is back and we're back winning. F**k the performance, you get three points for winning when you play just like you do if you win when playing sh*te. We played sh*te and we f**king won to top off what has been a great weekend for me. England won the Ashes, mam and dad celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary and Liverpool opened the season with three points, and a clean sheet to boot. All in all, a f**king good weekend for me.

Mignolet done everything he was asked to do very well. Looked confident.

Clyne is the best right back in the League and today he showed some real quality. Looked sound defensively and aided us with the odd flirt up the field, the way a defender should be.

Skrtel looked a little shaky in the first half but had a much improved second forty-five.

Lovren had his best game in a Liverpool shirt as far as I'm concerned. Still had the odd iffy moment but much better than what we saw last season.

Gomez was the stand out performer of the new players in pre-season and was rewarded with a starting berth today. For me, he did very little wrong. Played well enough to retain his place for the Bournemouth game.

Henderson did little of any note but I don't recall too many Stoke midfielders running past our central pairing, so he must have done something right.

Milner was a carbon copy of Henderson.

Ibe showed glimpses of his brilliance but had the odd glimpse of his inexperience as well.

Coutinho did one thing right all day and it resulted in us winning the game, well done Phil lad.

Lallana put in a typical Lallana performance, nothing of note other than holding onto the ball for too long for too often.

Benteke did the best with what little he could feed off. Most long balls he won, not his fault if there's nobody there to pick up the second ball.

Can was very good when he came on, he looks more like a twenty-thirty minute player than a full ninety.

Firmino didn't get the chance to showcase what he's about but I liked the look of the lad from the little he did show.

It's a win!

Onto Anfield next Monday to tw*t Bournemouth to move top of the League.

I think you make an important point about Henderson and Milner. While they did nothing of note they didn't do anything wrong. What they had was discipline in their performance in that they held shape and didn't try anything stupid. When your players are not offering that glitz and glamour needed for goals the very least you should have is discipline so that you don't compound performance at your own end.

That is the mark of Milner especially. One of the most disciplined players to have played in the Premier League. That's why Hodgson likes him and why he was used in every game at Euro 2012. He provided work rate and shape to a team that in all honesty didn't provide much else. But because of this they were hard to break down.

Stoke is probably the toughest away game in the season, I certainly didn't expect us to go there and dominate the game, if anything I expected us to be under a bit ore pressure than we actually were.
Stoke were overly physical as usual, no surprise there. I thought we were pretty solid in defence bar a few lose passes, but coped well with everything that came at in the air.
Our midfield pressed and harried well, Milner and Henson worked hard, Coutinho showed glimpses of his class, the goal was awesome, Ibe showed how much we're not going to miss Sterling 
I haven't read back, but anyone being overly critical about the performance today is being ridiculous, first game of the season, without firing on all cylinders yet, and we took 3 points, will Chelsea, City, Arsenal or the Scum do that? We'll see!

Happy as Santa getting blown at Christmas 

I think that Lovren improved massively from last season, he needs to show it every match now.

Milner and Henderson are Toyota, nothing special but reliable.

Great result!

Says a lot as to why they're the captain and vice-captain.

It's amazing the difference in mood between losing, drawing and winning. If we'd have lost I'd be pissed until the next game we played, now I can sit and chill out with a smile on my face whilst I down a Corona or two

Fair enough, I can remember one back pass that put us under slight pressure but even Migs managed to get there and he's not exactly Usain Bolt off his line

With Lovren I just thought he went chasing the ball on too many occasions leaving a massive space behind him, better teams would have exploited that and thankfully it was Adam and Johnson who couldn't take advantage. When your CB is out on the sidelines and they have midfielders running into the box you really do have to question the decision making.

Granted he won a few headers but I personally didn't think there were many he wasn't favourite for anyway. Perhaps I'm being harsh on the lad in that respect and will watch if there are any highlights. However in respect of rushing out to the sidelines or trying to get in front of the man to knick the ball when people are running in behind you, I personally don't like that as a decision unless you're chasing the game and having to take risks, the reward simply isn't worth it.

I see what you are saying, but i don't think he was as rash as you make out and perhaps my memory isn't serving me well.

Agreed he can be suspect at being rash but today i thought he was very much composed baring the elbow.

Hopefully we can agree next week on both of them being as solid as each other.

I see what you are saying, but i don't think he was as rash as you make out and perhaps my memory isn't serving me well.

Agreed he can be suspect at being rash but today i thought he was very much composed baring the elbow.

Hopefully we can agree next week on both of them being as solid as each other.

I like your thinking, I hope so too!