Just finished watching the game. Buzzing, what a fairy tale start for our new number 4.
Not a great performance but for the third game in a row, we've come with a late winner. Exactly what most of us were asking for in the past few months so I'm loving it.
-Thought Karius was underwhelming. Slow off his line, bottled an easy aerial ball. Stationary on the goal... Only positive from that is that it will only reinforce FSg/Klopp's willingness to find something proper for next season. 5
-Gomes had a great first half I thought but progressively lost composure as the 2nd half. 6
-Matip played well I reckon, didn't put a foot wrong and I liked his grounded and no non-sense approach to pairing with Van Dijk (who is more proactive). 7
-Van Dijk gave us a taste of what his presence could bring to the team. Composure, Aggressive defending, Commanding, Leading and ....of course, scoring the winner in front of the cup. As a side note, loved seeing the camera zoom in on the number 4 before each corner the way they used to do with Sami back in the day. What a moment though! 7.5
- Robbo MOTM for me. Made Bolasie look like an 8 year old. Start to finish, he was outstanding defensively and offensively. I loved the pace, the commitment and the motor on this lad. Fantastic performance. 9
- Milner had a great first half, by far our best midfielder and contributed both defensively and offensively. would give him an 8 for the 1st but he lost steam and purpose in the second. No wrong done on the whole though and took his penalty. 7
- Can was our worst mid player on the night. Typical of his inconsistency. Seemed unsure of himself and looked like a headless chicken at times. Didn't jeopardize our back 4 though and still ran a bunch. 6
- OX offered another solid performance. Not his best game for us but still quite a valiant effort. Pushed forward and never ran out of steam. Great ball for Lallana which should have been a goal. His free kicks and corners were spot on all night and rewarded with the assist for the winner.
-Mane was got into the game progressively. Thought he was poor at times in the first half but contributed a lot in the second. Not his best game but he's just trying to find his form and is returning from a long flight. 7
- Adam I thought was lost in the first half. He had a spell at the end of the first and a little in the second in which he came to life but it is clear that he's only playing at 60% of his capacity. It will come with time I'm sure which will be especially important whenever Couts leaves.
- Bobby had a good game although not his best. Pressed the ball, had some nice touches and contributed to most of our attacking play. 7
Winni - Did well when he came on, broughts loads of energy on both ends of the pitch - 7
Solanke - Didn't have much to do. Nothing dramatically good or bad - 6
TAA - Again, brought energy on both sides of our game and was a fresh presence - 7
Spot on subs by Klopp. Couldn't have managed the game better with what he had at his disposition. Deserves credit.
That little f*** should have gotten a red in my opinion and credit to Bobby for not swinging at him.
Only small negative, asides from an average performance, is the opportunity Bolasie was allowed in stoppage time. Had he passed it to sigerson, it could have been another frustrating night. We can't allow ourselves to be so open with 2 minutes left to play in such a situation.
ANyhow, buzzing. Good night fellow reds and onwards!
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