Player Ratings: Shrewsbury Town vs Liverpool Reserves
Adrian: (8) Could not have done anything about the goals and were it not for him Liverpool would probably have lost this game. Made two excellent saves. Gets my MOTM.
Larouci: (5.5) Gets a five and a half only because of his age and inexperience otherwise would have been a five. He looked lost at times and allowed crosses into the box by failing to keep goal side of the attacker . Gave them the penalty though VAR would have overturned it.
Matip: (6) Gets a six only because he was having his first game after injury. He was slow, gave the ball away carelessly and misplaced a number of passes especially in the second half.
Lovren: (5) Again only gets a five because he is coming back from injury but he was truly dreadful and the worst player on the pitch. He was slower than Matip gave them the second goal, tried ambitious long passes and failed with most of them. Was not up to playing the high defensive line presumably set by Klopp.
Williams: (6) Showed some nice touches in the first half but caught the jitters second half and perhaps not surprisingly faded like some of the other youngsters under pressure.
Fabinho: (5.5) Started badly and got worse. He was obviously rusty, his control was poor and made no impact on the game at all which is disappointing from one of the more senior players on the pitch. Arrogance perhaps, or just the after effects of injury?
Chirivella: (6.5) Made a killer pass for the first goal and was tidy throughout the match. Best of the rest.
Jones: (6.5) Started brightly and the goal he scored was well taken but faded second half
Minimino: (6) Gets a six because he played twice in a row and is still settling in but frankly looked like one of the kids and disappeared second half
Elliot: (6) Started well enough but looked like a 16 year old this time round, but no worse than the others.
Origi: (5.5) Spent most the game wandering around. He woke up a bit in the second half when it was too late. Against that opposition he should have had a field day but seemed disinterested.
Robbo: (10) -MOTM. Sorry this seems to be fixture in the player ratings template and like the poll link cannot be removed.
Subs: Salah, Ox, Firmino (N/A) Insufficient playing time to rate. Ox was on the longest and looked completely at home in an underperforming team;-/ Salah and Firmino showed good touches but were unable to influence the game in a last throw of the dice by Klopp.
Klopp: (6) May be a bit harsh but he set the team up and the defence especially was not up to playing a high line. Though, he could not have expected such a lackadaisical approach from his senior players who seemed to regard the opposition as being beneath them. They showed the weaknesses of a Liverpool side of old, failing to control a match and losing their way under pressure.
Summary: We were spoilt by the performance of a young team against Everton. This team looked just like it was, a team full of not yet ready youngsters and crocked players coming back from injury. Nevertheless, they could and should have shown more commitment and greater calmness. They just needed to play their normal passing game especially after going two up. Some players seemed to be trying to do too much on their own and losing the ball, others just did not seem up for it at all. That said with VAR we would have had a penalty and they wouldn’t. Still the odd setback just reminds you how lucky we are this season.
At the end of the day (or middle or beginning depending on where you live) you have to say well played Shrewsbury they took their chances and showed some passion, as did their excellent fans. Following Klopp’s statement that he will only play youngsters in the replay there is a good chance Shrewsbury will go one better at Anfield and create history for their club. I for one would not begrudge them that. Should Klopp honour the break, or is he dishonouring the FA Cup, or is the FA dishonouring the players?
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