Player Ratings: LFC 2 – Wolves 1 (Jan 24/20)

Ok so I may have started this series ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far far away’, but I never got to finish my keeping it real-ism series so I’ll restart it now. I’m pretty sure I’ll get to finish it this time around as I’ll most likely be filling in for our resident player rating expert JockintheKop when he is on-call.

Note: Anyone that wants to take a crack at player ratings article, feel free to let us know.

Alright, let’s go! I was very nervous about this game and it always seemed like it would be one of our toughest matches away from home left on our fixture list and oh boy it most certainly was. Now some of you may think it was a bit of a smash and grab on our part and to a certain extent it was. Wolves are a very good side and they made us work for the win but I still feel we were the better team on the night. Wolves really had only one good opportunity (Open header for Doherty) in the first half and everything else was dealt with expertly by our towers of power in VVD and Gomez. We could have been up more than one at halftime if we could just picked the right pass at the right time to an open player, more on that later (I’m looking at you Mo). Second half was much more nervy and Wolves gives us a great fight, they really are a menace of a team and I for one am glad to see the back of them for the rest of the season. On to the Player ratings.

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Alisson (8) - Only faced three shots on target for the night, but made two fantastic saves, one off Traore with the game at 1-1. Then came off his line strongly to cut down the angle on Jimenez and used his face to block a hard shot, once again at a time when Wolves were threatening to take the lead. Flapped at one sky ball that got caught up in the wind and was swirling around, thankfully he recovered. For me he's even better then he was last year, he simply makes everything look so easy now.

TAA (6.5) - Seemed to really struggle in the opening 5 minutes as Traore was often on his side and he just seemed too fast and strong for Trent. Beaten down the wing a couple of times early by Jonny as well. Not one of his best defensive games. Won the corner and also delivered another assist on Hendo's opening goal.

Gomez (8.0) - Sloppy pass in the early part of the game, but settled down and was immense the rest of the night. Often called upon to cover for TAA and his recovery speed is really something to behold. Vital block in the early stages of the second half. In my opinion he has solidified himself as the #2 CB, long may his current form continue.

VVD (8.0) - Typical stuff from the best LCB in the world (Sorry Pep you'll need to get your eyes checked), a mountain of a man, that just makes it look easy every time he steps on the pitch. His positioning is brilliant as demonstrated in the 18th minute when he used his large frame inside the six to box out Jimenez which easily could have been a goal. Multiple top notch blocks throughout the game.

Robbo (5) - Oh Andy, Andy, Andy... Why did you have to do this to me? We all know that McJock will be furious with me for this score, but you were a nightmare today. Sure you had a few lung busting runs, but you got beat down the right wing more today than you probably have all season long. Sure Traore is a handful but some of the defending tonight was amateur hour stuff. Seems to be struggling the last month or so, not as explosive since his injury and he probably would benefit from a rest. Ok, I'm gonna stop now as I'm risking a ban. ;-)

OX (5.5) - Ok the good first, won the ball neatly in our own end, which started the move which lead to Salah being fouled and in turn the corner that Hendo scored on. Now the bad, Timing still seems to be off for OX since he returned from injury and nothing seemed to work for him tonight. Cheaply gave the ball away multiple times, lost his man a few times in defence and seems to be lacking the tenacity required in defence.

Hendo (8.5) - Another captains performance from our Captain, lead by example, a tireless worker, intelligent possession of the ball and oh yeah he also added a goal and an assist for good measure. He was absolutely everywhere on the field, and anytime the ball came to him he made a smart decision with it, he really is solidifying himself as one of the best midfielders in the EPL. One of the things I love most about Hendo is he is absolutely fearless, he'll go into any 50/50 tackle with reckless abandon and doesn't think twice about sacrificing his body for the team. Not sure if I'm allowed to give out a McMOTM, but if I could it's going to McHendo.

Gini (7) - A solid performance from Gini, nothing spectacular but just another solid performance from the Dirty one. Tireless work throughout the night as he gave chase down the left side all night to try and help Traore. Still sprinting around like it was the first minute in the last 10 minutes. I always have a feeling of security when Gini gets the ball because he's amazing at retaining possession and very rarely does he give away possession cheaply.

Mane (NA) - Without a doubt the biggest concern from this game is the health of Mane. Subbed out early with a reported hamstring issue, lets hope its nothing serious as we can ill afford to be without Mane for an extended period of time. Did little to influence the game before the injury.

Salah (6.5) - Ok lets start with the good here, won the foul outside the Wolves box which eventually lead to the corner that Hendo scored on, also forced a good save from the keep on one occasion. Tormented the wolves defenders with some excellent dribbling and nutmeg'ed one of them before he lost the ball, which Hendo quickly pounced on to setup Bobby's winner. Now the bad, pass the fricken BALL!!! my god Salah is so frustrating to watch sometimes, he draws defenders to him which is great, but he's like a horse with blinders on when he's near or inside the box, talk about tunnel vision. If he would just lay the ball off sometimes to an open player, perhaps we wouldn't have to sweat into the 80th minute making things so much more difficult on us and my heart.

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Bobby (7.5) - Will the real Si Señor please stand up, please stand up, yup the real Si Señor is none other than OUR Bobby. Okay, he was on his way to a 6.5 before he finally scored the winner. Should have scored at least two before he got his goal. As always he worked tirelessly, a completely selfless player (I'm looking at you Mo) and I'm amazed game in and game out how much he does defensively for a striker.

SUBS

Minimino (5) - Looked tentative and lost within the system at times, you could see players directing him on the field. Very tough game for him to get his first game with the first team.

Fabinho (6) - Looks very rusty coming back from his injury and somewhat sluggish still. Needs game time to get his fitness and timing back, so hopefully a start on Sunday is in the cards.

Origi (N/A) - Ran around a little.

Klopp (8.5) - Tough one to score here as I thought he got the Minimino substitute wrong. But in one of his post game interviews he said he did that because it allowed him to play a 4-4-2 as well as a 4-5-1 to help contain the Wolves attack. At the end of the day it worked and we got another big three points. Plus if there is one thing I have learnt over the last couple of years is that you don't question Klopp, every time I question him I end up with my foot in my mouth, ie Everton staring lineup. 😉

SUMMARY: Well as I said that was a tough one, but a very satisfying hard fought three points and another step closer to the holy grail. Hats off to Wolves, they are a quality team and a team that's quite enjoyable to watch, especially when they are not playing us. On we go now to the FA Cup on Sunday. Our unbeaten streak is still intact and now at 40 games, yup 40 beautiful games, let that soak in for a moment. If you're still not a happy camper think about this for a moment, Man U have lost more EPL games in the last 4 days than Liverpool have lost since MAY 2018, now let that soak in as well. 😉

Finally since this is a keeping it real-ism article, we need to sign off with a keeping it real video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVHuZ8xkbyI