Karius - Had nothing to do. 6
Clyne - Think he doesn't get the credit he deserves most of the time, but today I felt he could have offered a little more width to stretch a packed Southampton defense. He a good chance with header and should have got it on target. Solid defensively. 6.5
Lovren - Similar to Karius didn't have too much to do apart from sheppard the lone Austin, no real brain farts this week. 6
Matip - Fast becoming a favourite of mine, a good defender who really reads the game well. Love the way he brings the ball out from the back. He did have an opportunity from a Coutinho free-kick IIRC where he could have threw himself at the ball, any contact and it would have been net bound. 7
Milner - Shades of Burnley. Mr. pro kept going as he does but didn't really have the pace or the foot to open their flank up. Like many of a players he's been in good form and works tirelessly for the team, similar to Clyne he came up a bit short in the offensive department. 6
Henderson - Thought he had a decent game ticking things over in midfield. Chased back made his challenges and got through his work without much fuss. Probably one of the easier games he'll have as a '6' as Southampton were happy to offer nothing. 6.5
Can - Some days I like him, others not so much. Today, he never did really anything of note other than to drag a half decent chance wide. He battled well throughout and offered us muscle which by rights helped us to dominate possession, but he doesn't have the nimbleness and touch of Lallana to help open up an organised defense. 6
Gini - Similar to Can. He had decent first half with a good sighter on goal but faded as the game went on. At one point in the second half I forgot he was on the pitch. Then towards the end of the game he tried to involve/force himself into the game more but to no avail. 6
Mane - First half I thought he looked our most promising of the three pronged trio. And the few times he did have a bit of space to attack (in the first half), I was willing him to attack and open his legs up and be direct. Thwarted by a good Van Dyke challenge in the first half and forced a decent save out of their keeper. In the second half we didn't seem him build on the solid start he had, and his game petered out somewhat - like many of his team mates it turned out to be a frustrating afternoon. 6.5
Firmino - Been in good form as of late. But today was pretty much in Van Dyke's pocket all match. Worked tremendously hard as usual but failed to add anything on top of that. The only time he did evade Van Dyke he found himself with the best opportunity of the match and wasn't clinical enough to take it - he should have scored. Frustrating afternoon for him. 6
Coutinho - The effects of international football and his slight hamstring injury ensured his afternoon was a tough one. Bundled over most of the time in the first half, Cout's dropped deeper in the second to work some magic which evaded him today. 6
Klopp - Made the substitutions way too late today, should have made the Can/Sturride sub about 10-15 mins prior to what he did and he may as well have left Origi on the bench.The boss has done a remarkable job so far this season, but with hindsight he could have used a fresher Sturridge possibly earlier, or even started him over one of the two of his jet-lagged Brazilians.
Had we have grinded out the 1-0 win we'd all be talking about this being the stuff of champions etc. Not today. Frustrating day, with 2 pts dropped.
Today's game mirrored the Manchester United game who had a game plan to do nothing other than defend. 3 teams: Burnley, Manchester United and Southampton have managed to squeeze points from us doing this, while the likes of Watford and Leicester capitulated trying to do the same thing. We will play many teams doing this and our next batch of fixtures will probably see the opposition set out to stall us, whether Sunderland, Boro and whomever have the wherewithal to do this for 90 mins I highly doubt it - but we need to be clinical and grind these games out.
« Last Edit: Nov 20, 2016 03:20:03 am by Beerbelly »
Logged