Player ratings: Atalanta 0-5 Liverpool
That’s more like it. After a couple of laboured displays in our last two games, the Liverpool we all know and love came back with a bang last night as we completely outclassed Atalanta from start to finish. Anyway, without any further ado…
Alisson (7) – Looked a bit dodgy in the opening half hour as he spilled a couple of fairly tame efforts first half but redeemed himself second half with a number of good saves. Perfect reading of the game as usual and very vocal and encouraging towards Rhys Williams throughout.
TAA (7.5) – After a slow start to the season, Trent is beginning to come to life this season and bagged himself an assist with a delicious pass to release Jota for the opener. Was a constant outlet down the right all night and had the beating of his counterpart.
R. Williams (7) – Once again, the youngster did himself proud. Kept it simple, good positioning for the most part and strong in the air. Has done his career no harm at all with his last couple of performances. There will definitely be more testing opposition however.
Gomez (8) – Much more like it from Joe. Dominant defensively, showed great pace on a couple of occasions and even popped up with a rare assist. Could just do with being a bit more dominant in the air. Best display for a while though. More of the same next game Joe.
Robertson (7) – Rock solid defensively as usual. Has slightly curtailed his attacking instincts in the last couple of games, which I wonder may be by design. In the absence of Virgil and Fabinho, we need to be tighter defensively and it’s easy to forget how good a defender Robbo is, with all his assists. Or it would be easy to forget if I wasn’t here to remind you. Every day…
Henderson (7) – Much like at the weekend, Hendo played a disciplined role at the base of midfield, shackling their much lauded number 10 and preventing him from influencing the game. Involved in some nice build up play too.
Jones (6.5) – I’ve seen a number of pundits lauding Jones performance yesterday but I didn’t really see it myself. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t have a bad game by any means but I didn’t think he was particularly great either, especially first half. He wasn’t on the same wavelength as his team mates, there was a couple of times the ball was passed into the space he was meant to be in but wasn’t there, leading to a rebuke by his teammates.Registered an assist but by accident rather than design, as it was just a hoofed clearance that Salah managed to get on the end of. More minutes however and some Champions League experience. Like I said after the weekend game though, needs to rediscover that swagger that made him stand out from the other academy products.
Wijnaldum (7) – Carried on his form from the weekend with another good display. Made a number of driving runs forward, good touch as always and played a big part in us completely dominating the midfield.
Salah (8) – Quite quiet first half by his standards but burst to life second half with a goal and an assist and his goal summed up everything Salah is about – blistering pace and expert finishing. Excellent ball to Mane for his assist as well.
Jota (9) – What an impact he continues to make as he scored a superb hat trick and should really have had a fourth. Atalanta just couldn’t deal with his pace, dribbling and finishing and surely he’s done enough to warrant a start against City at the weekend. Six goals in his last four games is an excellent return and he looks like he’s going to score every time he plays. The latest excellent addition to the squad and comfortably last night’s McMOTM.
Mane (8) – Atalanta struggled to contain Mane and the longer the game went on, the more they struggled. Like Mo, bagged himself a goal and an assist. Beautiful chip over the keeper for his goal after previously forcing a superb finger tip save out of him. A joy to watch every week.
Subs:
Firmino (6.5) – Fairly lively cameo from Bobby and showed some great dribbling skills as he waltzed through the Atalanta defence. As is so often the case however, his shot failed to come off. A bit more promising performance wise though. Probably not lost on him that Jota has scored more in his short time with us than I believe Bobby has scored this calendar year.
Milner (6) – Came on at LB on the hour mark to finally give Robbo some rotation. Has had much harder games in the position as the game was already won.
Keita (6) – Brought energy and pressing to the midfield without making too big an impact. Didn’t have to however, with the game won. Good to see him back.
N. Williams (N/A) – Champions League minutes for the kid.
Tsimikas (N/A) – He does exist!!
Klopp-watch (9) – When your team wipes the floor with Champions League opposition the way we did last night, away from home, there’s not much you can pick on the manager about. If there was one criticism, I’d have made the changes even sooner than he did but you could probably say that every week about Klopp. Tends to get it right though. What a team Klopp’s built.
Summary
When this team performs, it really is a joy to watch. Let’s get it straight, Atalanta’s system played right into our hands but you can only beat what’s in front of you and we did that with aplomb.
I said on the thread last night that Jota has been the Premier League signing of the season so far and he’s such a typical Klopp signing. With the exception of Alisson and Van Dijk, the rest of Klopp’s signings have arrived to little fanfare, people questioning the price tag and if they’re good enough – think Mane and Salah. Jota comes into that category as well but like the aforementioned two, has almost instantly become an integral part of our attack.
There is currently a Jota or Bobby debate raging but the reality is, we need both. I have been saying for a while that it wasn’t cover we needed for our front three, it was a fourth attacker of similar standard to rotate with them. The argument against being where do we find a player like that, who is at a similar level to our front three, won’t cost the earth and won’t expect to start every week? We all thought Werner seemed to be the only one who fitted the bill. Well enter Diogo Jota. He looks tailor made for our needs and his £45 million transfer fee is looking more of a bargain week by week. Klopp and Edwards have done it again.
I also think we can play all four of our main attackers in a 4-2-3-1 with Bobby in the 10 and Jota up top, especially against teams who will show little attacking ambition against us but even against the better teams, the work rate of Jota and Bobby should negate the need for a third midfielder.
It’s the big one on Sunday then. City away and if we win we’ll be a fairly mammoth 8 points clear of them, considering how early in the season it is, albeit City have a game in hand. Surely Jota starts… doesn’t he? On that note, I’m signing off. Walk on.
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