Thursday night – a tricky one to take in, to say the least. Liverpool played 120 minutes for, what turned out to be, absolutely nothing. How would Rodgers’ men respond? The answer was quite remarkable.
PLAYER RATINGS
Simon Mignolet (5.5/10)
One shot on target from the away side all game – the goal, obviously. Mignolet wasn’t really called upon too much, in regards to shot stopping. There were a couple of times in the game where he was called upon to come out of his box and claim the ball to relief some of the, what seemed to be at the time, never-ending pressure off his back three. The look on Dejan Lovren’s face when he didn’t come out for one said it all, really. Nothing he could have done about the goal, though.
Emre Can (6.7/10)
Emre was moved back into defence for the visit of the champions. Due to injuries; Can was forced to push forward into a central midfield role on Thursday night. Back in defence for City and I thought he dealt with their dangerous attacking threats very well. Obviously against City and the talent they have at their disposal – it’s going to be difficult. This proved to be the case for Can for their goal. He was caught a bit flat-footed and ball-watching. Maybe he should have anticipated Dzeko’s run a bit better and quicker, but that will come. That will come with time. Apart from that – his composure, as always, was brilliant. I think the right sided centre back role suits his game down to a tee. This means he has the whole of the pitch to run into and create an attack. Anyone who has watched Can this season knows how much he loves to be given the license to just run at the opposition midfield/defence.
Martin Skrtel (7.6/10)
Another top performance from a changed man. I haven’t been a huge fan of Skrtel throughout his Liverpool days and especially since Brendan Rodgers took charge – but he’s changing my mind now, thankfully. The centre of the back three is the ideal position for him, it seems. A terrific performance from him against probably the meanest attack in the league. I think his reading of the game has improved significantly. He seems to be more able to block dangerous, low-driven crosses into the box now. There must have been four or five times he did that.
Dejan Lovren (6.5/10)
A definite improvement from Lovren today. I thought the first-half in particular, he looked nervous and maybe a bit anxious about the occasion. Can you blame him? It’s quite understandable after the goings-on in Turkey. However, I thought he grew into the game and did the basic things right. The clearances, tackles and interceptions. These are features of a defender’s game which should just come naturally and in a way, go without saying. But Lovren’s poor start at the club have been because of him not doing these things right. I thought his passing was dodgy, though. Definitely not up to a Mamadou Sakho level. But I was encouraged by Lovren’s overall defensive performance and you have to bear in mind who he was up against. The likes of Aguero, Dzeko, Nasri and Silva.
Lazar Markovic (4/10)
Markovic isn’t looking so great at the moment, is he? Thought this was a poor performance from someone I rate highly and usually enjoy watching. It’s not what he did against City – it’s what he didn’t do. He was a bypassed the whole of the first-half, it seemed. He had one moment of magic; chipping a ball into Adam Lallana’s path. But nothing was going down the Reds’ right-hand side in his defence. Needs to improve does Markovic.
Alberto Moreno (7/10)
I thought Moreno was amazing. I’ve noticed the last few games how good he’s been. He seems to be adapting to that left wing-back role now. Pablo Zabaleta is the best attacking full-back in the league and I thought he was quiet today. I think Moreno’s defensive play at the start of the season looked suspect to be generous – now it’s looking top drawer.
Jordan Henderson (7.8/10)
A real captain’s display from the energetic midfielder. Inspirational. Him and Joe Allen, who I’ll come on to, were sublime. A great midfield performance from the duo. Henderson’s main criticism from the mainstream media and public is his lack of goals and his composure in the final third. Henderson took his goal like someone who does it every week. He used Coutinho’s run brilliantly as a decoy before cutting onto his favoured right and smashing the ball past Joe Hart. From then, he set the tone – his pressing was quality, as it always is. One moment that had me clapping was his lunge to win the ball of Yaya Toure in City’s half, really late on in the game. He doesn’t stop running, it’s almost becoming a cliché now. At the end of the game where most players have virtually given up – Henderson’s there sprinting to try and retrieve the ball. What’s even more impressive is that he supposedly played with a pain killing injection in his foot in order for the vice-captain to play.
Joe Allen (8.4/10)
Joe Allen – what a display. His best in a red shirt. For me, didn’t put a foot wrong. He’s up against one of the best central midfielders in the world in Yaya Toure and made him look average. It’s strange with Allen, you never quite know which Joe will show up – but when it’s this Joe; he’s exceptional. Allen in the second-half was obviously told to be more of the defensive midfielder and try to cover those spaces David Silva was having some joy with in the opening 45. He did that brilliantly in the second-half. He made some great tackles and won some important and time consuming free-kicks. I can’t remember a misplaced pass from him and you do occasionally get a few. At the moment, he’s played Lucas’ role very well – let’s hope he doesn’t let it drop against Burnley in midweek.
Adam Lallana (8/10)
Lallana hasn’t been his usual self in recent weeks. But today he was sublime. He was having a load of joy behind Yaya Toure and Fernandinho – which evidently didn’t work for City. Him and Coutinho were finding themselves in all sorts of space and players like that, nine times out of ten – will punish that tactical naivety. His first touch was terrific, as it normally is, but today he seemed to have even more joy with it. Lallana seemed to have eyes in the back of his head today. His link-up play with Coutinho and Sterling was superb. Unfortunately for him, he had two disallowed goals – one of them being a tremendous goal. Both justified, though. He then had to fill in at right wing-back when Sturridge was introduced and you seen him put in some meaty challenges. His passion is infectious and you can see how much it means to him during the celebrations. He’s a real leader on the pitch and I think that’s emphasised even more with Gerrard’s absence.
Philippe Coutinho (8.6/10) – Man of the Match
Superlatives are in short supply to describe the way Coutinho is playing at the moment. It reminds me of that run Suarez had last season where you couldn’t quite find a word to describe his performances. His performance today – right from the first whistle where he was hustling the City defence and midfield with his relentless pressing – was breathtaking. Pablo Zabaleta’s the best full-back in the league, for me, and Coutinho has run him absolutely ragged. There would be times where he’d try to press him early to win the ball back and Coutinho would somehow touch the ball around him without even seeing him. Whenever he got on the ball – you knew something would happen. It eventually did. He only scores screamers, doesn’t he? The #10 picks the balls up – opens up a bit of space – and curls the ball into the right hand side. After last week’s contender, he’s again come up with another contender for the goal of the season award. Coutinho, magical. His celebration was his best thing, mind.
Raheem Sterling (7.1/10)
I thought Sterling had a good game, but more for what he did off the ball. In the first-half – he ran more than anyone else in red, I thought. His pressing from the start was excellent. A real workmanlike performance from a youngster who was heavily criticised for his performance on Thursday night. A good, positive reaction.
SUBSTITUTES
Daniel Sturridge (6/10)
He did well when he came on. I think Sturridge’s presence when he comes on has a huge impact. When we were attacking in the late stages of the game, there was more space for the likes of Lallana, Sterling and Coutinho to occupy in because of their defenders being distracted by Sturridge’s clever and instinctive movement. He missed a chance on another day he would have scored. He’s still looking a bit rusty but that will disappear soon enough.
Kolo Toure (6/10)
Kolo was brought on when we were effectively parking the bus. He did nothing wrong. He hoofed a clearance at the end of the game which took valuable seconds out of the game. I think he proves how reliable he is when he comes on in games like these in difficult situations like these.
Pick your ratings below…
[statsfc-player-rater key=”n3hIsXGmdJ6AnSMKzUo6i09cnqzZIPNpYYb7QNmF” team=”Liverpool” date=”2015-03-01″]
