Player ratings: Liverpool 2-0 Southampton
Looking at the score line, you could be forgiven for thinking this was just a routine 2-0 victory for the reds, however as with the rest of this season, it was far from routine. Still, the three points are all that matters. Let’s see how the lads got on…
Alisson (8.5) – A couple of dodgy passes (one horribly reminiscent of the City game) aside, Alisson was immense last night. Made a brilliant point blank save from Che Adams and the follow up as well from Redmond when Trent was caught in possession. A number of good stops second half as well and dominant when dealing with crosses. We’d have drawn or lost that game with a lesser goalkeeper last night so Ali is comfortably this week’s McMOTM.
TAA (6.5) – You can really see the effect an inexperienced CB pairing has on our fullbacks, both are much more reluctant to bomb on without a care, the way we’ve seen in recent seasons. To that end Trent drifted in and out the game but still put some wicked deliveries into the box and was solid enough in his defensive work, apart from the aforementioned where he dithered on clearing the ball at the edge of the box and was robbed by Redmond. Grateful to his goalkeeper on that occasion.
Phillips (7.5) – Nat impresses me more with every display, he’s so dominant in the air, clears everything and as his confidence grows, his passing and touch have improved as well. He’s trying now to be a threat from set pieces as well, putting one header narrowly wide of the post first half. I think letting Nat go in the summer would be a mistake, for me he’s earned the right to be part of our first team set up now.
Williams (6) – Got away with a couple of errors yesterday but I’m not going to have a go at the kid, he’s never ready to be playing at this level. I’ve mentioned this before but his running technique is all wrong, he’ll never be quick but his body shape and hip movement when he runs makes him look like he’s moving in slow motion. That is something that can be worked on. I’ll be surprised if we see Rhys in the first team again after this season but he’s gained some invaluable experience and raised his profile as a player massively, which should stand him in good stead moving forward with his career.
Robertson (7) – Like Trent, you can see Robbo’s reluctance to leave the defence exposed and after Walker-Peters had the freedom of Anfield at times in the first half hour, Robbo dropped a bit deeper to cut off that line of attack. Made 3 or 4 really nice midfield splitting passes though and one brilliant first time cross field pass to Trent. Robbo probably misses Virgil more than anyone, as he’s had to curtail his natural instincts to just bomb on at every opportunity for pretty much the whole season.
Fabinho (7.5) – A dominant display from Fabinho, restored to his preferred position. Tried to dictate the tempo of the game and made plenty necessary interceptions. I suspect he’ll be back in defence against United on Thursday though, if Kabak isn’t fit.
Thiago (7) – Still coming to terms positionally with playing the 8 in our system and it’s not a role that really plays to his strengths. I noticed him dropping deeper as the first half went on and actually counted a number of times Nat Phillips was further up the field than Thiago. Playing a deeper role is clearly where he’s most comfortable. That didn’t stop him popping up with a late goal to seal the victory however, which will do his confidence good and help placate those who were expecting 20 goals/assists from him.
Wijnaldum (6) – Crashed a header against the bar first half and showed some good energy after a well earned break but too often drifts in and out of games and you can forget he’s playing at times.
Salah (7) – Nice cross to assist Mane’s opener but overall a frustrating game by Salah, as his decision making in front of goal repeatedly let him down. Tried to score from a very tight angle when he could have cut back to Mane for a tap in, found himself clean through only to cut back away from goal in some bizarre attempt to go around the keeper and a number of defenders, rather than just taking a touch and shooting. Looked a player short on confidence to be honest, although that’s not something you normally associate with Salah but taking too many touches, trying to make sure of the goal.
Jota (6) – Started brightly and got himself in a couple of good positions first half where I was screaming at him to go himself but both times he tried to find Salah and the chance was lost. Got himself in one excellent opportunity with a weaving run but tried to shoot near post when the far corner was beckoning. Looks to have lost a bit of rhythm since his injury, which is understandable. You can still see the quality though and I expect big things from Jota next season.
Mane (7) – Got himself on the scoresheet with a well taken header, which should do his confidence the world of good. Plenty of effort from Sadio but still doesn’t look close to the force of nature we’ve seen over the last couple of years when he’s been at his best. Next season will be a big one for Sadio, assuming he sticks around.
Subs:
Firmino (6) – Brought on to help keep possession and provide more control but got a blast from Klopp after a failed back heel squandered possession. He passed to Thiago prior to his goal but I’m not sure if you could class it as an assist or not.
Ox (N/A) – Still exists.
Jones (N/A) – So does he.
Kloppwatch (7) – I’m starting to find the rigid 4-3-3 frustrating at the moment as I don’t think it’s playing to the strengths of the players we’ve got available at the moment. Fair enough Klopp’s vindicated with a 2-0 win but if you think back to Newcastle, we played 4-2-3-1 with Thiago and Gini as the two sixes. The performance was actually really good and we created shed loads of chances. We were open to counters though, with Fab being forced into CB. I said at the time with Fabinho next to Thiago in that formation, we’re much more solid while offering a more potent attacking threat so I don’t understand why we didn’t at least start that way yesterday. I understand not playing Bobby as a false 9 when Thiago plays as an 8 as they get in each other’s way but we could have had Bobby on from the start of Thiago was played as one of two sixes. They’ve had two weeks off and only a handful of games left, need to win every one and we don’t need to rotate so get all your best attackers out there and try and win. It’s not like we were defensively solid in the 4-3-3.
Summary
Somewhat laboured victory then and at 1-0 I’m sure we were all feeling a horrible sense of Deja Vu. Thankfully we saw out the victory but I’m still not confident of making top four. Our form is sketchy at best and I just don’t think we’re playing well enough to assume we’ll win our remaining games.
United up next on Thursday then. If Kabak isn’t fit, I expect Fabinho will return to CB. Surely you can’t put Rhys up against Cavani so it will be interesting to see what he goes with in midfield. You’d imagine Gini and Thiago are nailed on so it will likely be one of Ox, Jones or Keita. United have a fairly gruelling week coming up so we really need to capitalise on that and with our fresher legs, press them off the pitch the way we know we can.
Anyway, another limp closer to the end of this cursed season. The fact that both the CB’s we signed in January are injured when one hasn’t even kicked a ball for us, just sums this season up. The sooner it’s over, the better. Walk on!
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