Player ratings: Liverpool 2-1 Sheffield United
It wasn’t pretty but a very satisfying three points as the lads battled to come from behind and secure the win. And make no mistake, this was a battle against a very physical, well organised Sheffield United team. Let’s see how the lads got on…
Alisson (7) – Great to see the big man back and the difference his presence makes to the nervousness of the team was palpable yesterday. Made one good stop first half and was commanding at dealing with the many high balls that came into our box. Got away with one in the second half though, as he took too long on the ball and almost had it nicked off him by Olly Burke. Other than that though, an assured first game back from Alisson.
TAA (6) – A bit better from Trent but still looks way off his best. He’s struggled defensively since the season started and his delivery has been nowhere near what we’ve become accustomed to from him. Unlucky not to register an assist for Salah, as the Egyptian was ruled offside and almost caught their keeper out with an audacious free kick from his own half but all in all, much more to come from Trent this season.
Fabinho (7) – First things first, the penalty incident. I didn’t think it was a foul in real time and then for me, the replays confirmed that. Clearly made contact with the ball before the man and for them then to rule it as a penalty, I couldn’t believe it. Never mind VAR getting the rulers out to see if the ball was on the line, how about telling the ref it wasn’t a foul? At least to have another look at it and see if he still thinks it’s a foul. Anyway, aside from that I thought Fabinho had another good game at CB. Strong positionally and in the air against the lively McBurnie and kept Brewster anonymous.
Gomez (7) – He’s like a different player with Alisson behind him. The timidity and nervousness of Wednesday were gone as Joe put in a strong, commanding display. Good in the air, brought the ball out from the back well and used his recovery pace to good effect. Much more like it from Joe.
Robertson (7) – Set the tone in the opening two minutes with a beautiful pass to Mane that led to a goal line clearance by Sheffield United. His delivery wasn’t quite on point but a busy display as always as he covered every blade of grass and even popped up in the right wing position at one point. Really good start to the season from Robbo.
Henderson (8) – Really solid display from the skipper as he led by example through a tough encounter. He’s really grown technically as a player over the past two years, his passing range and overall technique have improved massively, which is a testament to how hard he works away from the pitch. He demonstrated this with a beautiful cross to Mane that ultimately led to the equaliser but there was a moment second half that encapsulates Hendo as a player. When defending a corner, a Sheffield player accidentally dragged his studs down Hendo’s Achilles after jumping for a header. Hendo was down and in some discomfort but moments later, he picked up the ball, beat his man and drove up the pitch with the ball before going down again in pain once it was safe. This self sacrifice for the team is what Hendo is all about and what makes him a great captain. Usually the McMOTM goes alongside game changing moments like goals and assists but I thought all our forwards were quiet first half so on that basis, Hendo is this week’s McMOTM.
Wijnaldum (7) – Quiet workmanlike display in the first half, although he did give the ball away a couple of times. Much more involved second half however, good defensive display in a packed midfield and showed some lovely close control in the corner at the end of the game as we were seeing the game out.
Jota (7) – Diogo’s promising start to life at Anfield continues, displaying his versatility by starting on the right this week. Didn’t look particularly comfortable in the set up first half and started popping up all over the place but grew into the game second half as his speed and dribbling started to trouble Sheffield more and more. Rewarded for a fine second half display with a well taken winning goal. He’s already shown his aerial ability going close a couple of times with headed chances in previous matches and he made no mistake yesterday when given the chance. Another string to an already impressive bow.
Salah (7.5) – A bit like Jota in the first half, he was popping up all over the place and struggled to get involved but much improved second half display as he started causing The Blades all sorts of problems. Desperately unlucky to be marginally offside for his goal, as it was a beautiful touch and finish. Salah is another who has improved technically this season. I remember joking a few months back that I hoped Salah spent lockdown working on his first touch. Well fair play, it appears he has as his touch and passing are much improved this term. Keep up the good work Mo!
Firmino (7) – Really pleased to see Bobby get on the scoresheet and I really hope it gives him a confidence boost as the days of no look finishes and wacky goal celebrations are a distant memory at this point. Will definitely be glad to get that monkey off his back from last season of not scoring at Anfield until the final day. Hopefully will kick on from here.
Mane (7) – Strangely subdued first half and will be annoyed with himself that he didn’t score the header that rebounded for Firmino’s goal. Came to life second half however and the opposition couldn’t deal with him in one v ones, as was demonstrated when he created the space for him to loft a cross in to Jota for the winner.
Subs:
Milner (6) – Solidified the midfield and helped to see the game out.
Minamino (6) – Pressed like an absolute demon when he came on. Fair play, he only had 7 minutes but was desperate to catch the managers eye and make some kind of mark on the game. Perfect attitude for a squad player to have.
Klopp-watch (7) – Mixed things up tactically which I’ll touch on more in the summary but after a slow start it worked. Good to see their minds back in the game though after the injury to Virgil with a really solid display and further testament to the mentality Klopp has instilled in this team.
Summary
So I spent the first half trying to figure out what formation we were meant to be playing. At first I thought 4-2-3-1 and then I thought 4-4-2 and then Jota and Salah just started popping up all over the place as our attack didn’t really have any shape or purpose to it. There wasn’t the smoothness of players interchanging positions, it just all felt very random.
Whatever tweaks were made at halftime however, worked a treat as we looked far more dangerous from the off, with Jota’s dribbling catching the eye and Salah causing panic in the Sheffield United penalty are.
What really pleased me about yesterday though, was the grit the team showed. Sheffield United are a big physical team and they came with the intention of roughing us up yesterday. It would be easy for the players to feel sorry for themselves and point to Virgil missing against a big physical side but they didn’t, they fought and battled with the opposition and eventually ground out the win. Not only that, we saw it out fairly comfortably from a defensive point of view, which should give them a huge confidence boost that there is life after Van Dijk.
Everton losing to Southampton today means we’re now level on points at the top of the league and with Thiago and Matip hopefully re-joining the squad this week, things are looking a lot better than they did at this time last week.
Anyway, no let up as we’ve got FC Midtjylland on Tuesday. They’re the whipping boys of the group so I would expect us to come through that game comfortably and perhaps give one of our usual front three the night off and give Minamino a start. Anyway, that’s all until then. Walk on troops
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