A tricky and scrappy encounter with Southampton at St Mary’s. Liverpool winning by two goals to nil, but weren’t at their best down on the south coast. A fantastic and highly pleasing victory, nonetheless.
PLAYER RATINGS
Simon Mignolet (8/10)
A changed man. I’m convinced it’s a different person. I’ll admit, I didn’t think he was coming back from his terrible form. And I’m over the moon he’s made me, and many more, look stupid. Crosses come into the box – not a problem for him now. From set-pieces, teams have a tendency to try and crowd him and make it uncomfortable for him. It’s not fazing him at the moment. Crucial saves again, too, which were always there, really. Another spirited and faultless performance from the Belgian – and long may it continue.
Dejan Lovren (5/10)
A surprise inclusion from Rodgers. But with Sakho picking up a ‘minor’ hip injury, he was left with no choice. It was always going to be difficult for the Croatian; coming back into the side and facing his former club – whose fans, by the way, loathe the central defender. With Sakho out injured – it’s finally his chance to play his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans – but he didn’t do that, for me. Rodgers thinks he did well, but I suppose he has to say that – “Today was always going to be difficult, but I thought he dealt with it well.” He did improve in the second-half, a bit, but he wasn’t good enough. Again, like Mignolet, I hope he proves me wrong and improves.
Martin Skrtel (9/10) – Man of the Match
Since moving to the 3-4-2-1 formation, Skrtel has been terrific. He deserves masses amounts of credit. I feel as if people aren’t giving him enough praise for his recent performances. We, as Liverpool fans, have been used to a mistake in Skrtel, usually costly ones. However, since being the middle in a three, I cannot recall a costly mistake – which he has been prone to in the past. At St Mary’s, he was sublime. He had a tricky job given to him by dealing with the skill and physicality of Graziano Pelle. The Italian was shoved firmly into the Slovak’s pocket. I can’t think of many aerial duels that Pelle won – and there were a lot. Brilliant from Skrtel.
Emre Can (6.5/10)
A solid game from the wonderful man himself. Can was playing as the left sided defender in the three at the back. A position which I’m tempted to say he’s unfamiliar with, but is he? He seems to have the football brain and intelligence to play anywhere on the pitch. I’ve heard he also played left-back in his Leverkusen days, which is similar to the role occupied versus Saints. A nervy start from Can, nearly giving away a penalty within 25 seconds. Definitely not a penalty, but you wouldn’t have been surprised if Kevin Friend blew his whistle. This game may not have suited the German, though. It was more get the ball and hoof it towards their goal than the usual playing out from the back – the much more glamorous approach.
Jordon Ibe (7/10)
Many turned their noses up at bringing him back from his loan spell at Derby. It’s looking a no-brainer now, especially with Markovic’s European ban. Ibe’s first-half was a lot better than his second. One stage in the game, he picks the balls up, breezes past a player like he’s not there and drifts past another. The confidence from a 19 year-old is mesmerising. This game he had to show his defensive qualities, too. Ibe’s got a massive future at the club.
Lazar Markovic (4/10)
This was one of Markovic’s worst performances for the Reds. It was definitely a bold call from Rodgers to play two wingers as the wing-backs, instead of Moreno, who is usually on the left hand side. Markovic looked out of his depth against Nathaniel Clyne, who is undoubtedly talented and difficult to deal with. Markovic couldn’t get forward too much and express himself due to the way the game was going. Markovic committed silly fouls too often and he was a problem that was eventually dealt with by the manager. I like Markovic, though, and I think he’ll come out of this game an improved player.
Jordan Henderson (7.5/10)
Fantastic performance from the captain on the day. Liverpool are yet to lose when Henderson has been filling is as the captain, so he’s definitely doing something right. His performances have been somewhat mixed recently and Sunday just emphasised to the fans, most of all, how good Henderson is on his day. One stage in the game when Eljero Elia, who is lightening quick, was running away from him and he sprinted like the tremendous athlete he is to catch him and make the tackle. His defending and obvious leadership, his most impressive and pleasing attributes from Sunday’s massive win.
Joe Allen (7/10)
Everyone has an opinion on Allen. Most of what I read are negative ones. And, to be honest, this season, you can’t argue with the negative comments about Allen. He’s been extremely average. But everyone knows that Allen is a very good player on his day, when he quietly goes about his business and has a significant impact on the game. I felt he did that on Sunday. Mostly his defensive work, though. It reminded me of a Lucas performance before he got injured. I was very impressed with the Welshman and I believe he’s earned his place in Thursday’s side against Besiktas.
Adam Lallana (4.5/10)
12 years Lallana spent at Southampton – a number of them as club captain. He may have thought he was going to be getting a better reception than he did. The Southampton fans were brutal towards Lallana, who they once adored. Anyway, Lallana looked like he had been impacted by this in the game. His performance wasn’t up to scratch at all. At times in the game, I’d look around to check if he was still on the pitch. I’m sure he’ll improve, though.
Philippe Coutinho (7.8/10)
The talent at the Brazilian’s feet is sensational. Many have often criticised Coutinho’s ‘wasteful’ shooting – and rightly so. Sunday, though; the best goal this season has seen so far, for me. Biased? Perhaps a little. The way he struck that ball was amazing. Fraser Forster, a man-giant at 6 ft 7 inches between the Southampton posts- not the slightest chance of getting there. A real once in a lifetime goal for most players, but you seen Coutinho do it not so long ago against Bolton. This one, I feel, was better. He had a few moments of magic in the game, like he always does. He’s definitely due a rest, though. Thursday could be the time Rodgers takes him out of the side.
Raheem Sterling (7.2/10)
Sterling was always tipped to play – probably not as a striker, though. Liverpool’s bench consisted of three forwards, but Sterling was the man Rodgers wanted as the focal point. He did well. However, sometimes I felt he spent too long dwelling on his options and as a consequence gave the ball way too often. Great positioning and anticipation from him to latch onto the end of the loose ball for his goal, though. Another example of his ever-improving finishing, too. I still much prefer him behind the striker, rather than the striker, and I thought we’d see that when Sturridge entered the play.
SUBSTITUTES
Alberto Moreno (6.8/10)
This was an obvious change needed at half-time, I thought. Rodgers did it, and it undoubtedly worked. Nathaniel Clyne was proving to be Southampton’s biggest threat in the first-half. He was having a field day against Lazar Markovic. Moreno came on and Clyne didn’t have a sniff all of the second-half. Brilliant defensive performance from Moreno and of course he had a big part to play in the game’s final goal from Raheem Sterling. Moreno was very good on Thursday in the Europa League and continued that for Sunday’s performance.
Daniel Sturridge (6/10)
This was a change that was always going to happen. Many were left shocked with Sturridge’s starting place on the bench. When he came on, I thought he looked lively. The Saints looked completely distracted by his appearance and presence, that it allowed others – such as Coutinho, Sterling and Moreno – to pose their attacking threat a bit more. He still looks as if he’s missing a bit of match fitness – there’s only one way to rediscover that and that’s to keep playing.
Glen Johnson (6/10)
Nothing to report on Johnson, really. Came on, did his job, went off. He was at right wing-back and defended solidly to any potential threat. Brief, but solid.
Pick your ratings below:
[statsfc-player-rater key=”n3hIsXGmdJ6AnSMKzUo6i09cnqzZIPNpYYb7QNmF” team=”Liverpool” date=”2015-02-22″]
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