Player ratings: Liverpool 3-2 West Ham
Like so many games this season, we seemed to make hard work of it last night and scraped to another three points. It was significant however in as much as we have now equalled City’s record of 18 consecutive Premier League victories, the points total United won the league with in their treble winning campaign, along with also equalling the 26 victories Arsenal notched up in their invincible season… and it’s only February. Anyway let’s see how the lads fared last night.
Alisson (6) – Will be disappointed to have conceded the first in the manner he did. It wasn’t a howler but a keeper of Alisson’s class would expect to keep that out. Redeemed himself however, with a vital one on one save made with his face! Difficult to be critical of Alisson as he’s been immense this season.
TAA (8.5) – I said on the thread at the beginning of the match that when Trent’s delivery is on point, we have a chance in any game and that was the fundamental difference between last night’s game and the game against Atletico. His assist for the first was a brilliant cross considering the angle he approached it at and was unlucky not to have a hat trick of assists after Mane was ruled offside. Much better performance from Trent and his two assists were enough to secure him this week’s McMOTM.
Gomez (5) – Not Joe’s finest game. Diop got ahead of him far too easily for their first goal, got away with one when he fell over the ball letting Antonio in and his passing wasn’t great throughout, with the odd exception. You can’t be brilliant every week though, especially at his age.
Van Dijk (7) – Better display from Virgil than against Atletico but I doubt he’ll be happy with some of the team’s defending last night. Sprayed the ball about nicely though and unlucky to see his headed chance come back off the bar.
Robertson (7.5) – Of all our players, Robbo seems to have benefitted most from the winter break and put his fitness issues behind him. Grabbed himself an assist and was clearly enjoying the physical battle with his international teammate Snodgrass. Boundless energy all night and solid defensively. Looks to be getting back to his best.
Fabinho (6) – Not a bad display from Fabinho but he’s still quite a way off his pre-injury form. His passing has been way off since his return and you can see he’s still lacking a bit of sharpness. That’s a few games under his belt now though so hopefully we’ll start to see the real Fabinho begin to emerge in the next game or two.
Keita (5) – Another really poor display from Keita. I don’t know if he’s worried about his body after all his injury problems but he seems far too meek to be playing in our midfield. Too easy to dispossess and seems to have very little appetite for the physical part of the game. That would be fine if he was contributing in other ways but he isn’t. No surprise to see him subbed early second half. Starting to doubt if it’s ever going to work out for Naby with us. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong.
Wijnaldum (8) – Brilliant display from Gini last night. Scored the opening goal and covered every blade of grass. Gini is one of the best in the League in tight spaces, the way he draws players in by shaping to go one way and then going the other is exceptional and he did it time and again last night. If he played like that every week, he’d have no detractors.
Salah (6) – Got his goal, albeit it through a goalkeeping horror show from Fabianski. Was poor overall though, I lost count of how many of our attacks broke down when the ball reached Salah. I think I could write the same rating for Salah almost every week. Terrible all round performance but scored a goal or two.
Firmino (6) – I don’t know if the lack of an Anfield goal this season is starting to weigh on Bobby’s mind but he struggled again for the most part and even managed to head against the post from about two inches out. Seems to be trying to force it a bit at times, just needs to play his natural game.
Mane (7) – Fairly quiet first half but stepped things up in the second and scored the all important winner. Almost had a second after finishing off our best move of the night but was ruled offside. We need him to be flying when Atletico come to town.
Subs:
Ox (7) – The game changed when Ox came in for Keita. Brought a lot more positivity and energy to our midfield and as always, was a threat with his shooting from distance. Surely ahead of Keita in the pecking order now.
Matip (N/A) – Came on in stoppage time. May get a run out against Watford as Gomez has struggled in the last couple of games.
Klopp-watch (8) – Not the easiest game to score Klopp on as not a great performance but the manager can only do so much. The Ox substitution had a big impact on the game too.
Summary:
For the first time this season, I thought I saw a degree of complacency creeping into the team. Without Hendo or Milner there, we looked like we’d just turned up expecting to win in the first half.
Klopp mentioned in an interview the other day that he likes half time as you’ve been able to analyse the first half and help the team correct some mistakes but I’m worried the team are becoming too reliant on this. How often do we look totally clueless and lack creativity in the first half of games and then dramatically improve second half? A bit too often for my liking.
We keep finding a way however and I mentioned on the match thread that we had at least another three gears. We didn’t really start playing until we went behind but after that, we looked like we could destroy them at will and of the game had gone on for longer, the score was only going to become more emphatic.
It was something of a scare however and we’ll need to significantly improve for the visit of Atletico. Four wins to go however. Four more wins and we’ll be champions of England for the first time in three decades. Let’s start with Watford on Saturday. Walk on
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