Robbo’s back, midfield balance and Jota can’t stop scoring
Our rich vein of form continued at Anfield yesterday as Southampton were simply swept aside by yet another quite brilliant team performance but what did we learn?
Defence
Alisson reminded us what a top goalkeeper he is, banishing any lingering memories of the West Ham game as he brilliantly thwarted a couple of one v one Southampton chances and made another very smart save. These moments are easily forgotten after a 4-0 win but are pivotal points of the game to keep momentum.
I’ve been saying for a number of weeks that I’d like to see Robbo get a couple of games off and it seems to have done him the world of good as he was back to his brilliant best yesterday. You could see by his celebration what it meant to him to register an assist and he was unlucky not have a hat trick of assists on the day, after Mane was marginally offside from Robbo’s excellent set piece delivery and he put another on a plate for Jota who really should have scored. Marauding runs and clever movement, Southampton simply couldn’t handle him. And to think some wanted him dropped… Robbo McMOTM.
Konate played well for the most parts, couple of suspect moments but has great recovery pace and he isn’t rash if he does make a mistake, which I like to see in a defender. It must be a dream to slot into that team beside Van Dijk when the whole team is so dominant. I thought his positioning with the high line and offside trap was very good for the most part too, showing the work on the training field and why new signings rarely make a lot of starts in their first 6 months at the club. His promising start continues though and Virgil looked back to his effortless best defensively and a very well taken volley for his goal, which 9/10 CB’s would’ve found row Z with.
Midfield
Finally we’re getting to see the midfield we’ve all dreamed of since Thiago’s signing. Fabinho, Hendo and Thiago bring such a wonderful blend of steel, industry and technique. I thought all three were excellent yesterday, Thiago’s early brain fart aside. Fabinho is like a lighthouse in the midfield, reading and breaking up play expertly but there’s much more to his game than that as he showed with an absolutely outrageous turn second half.
Thiago destroyed Southampton’s press with his passing. His vision in how to take 3-4 opposition players out the game with one pass is second to none and good to see him get on the scoresheet again, albeit via a deflection.
Hendo hunting the ball down and intelligent passing. I was thinking when watching him and then Milner later, it’s very fitting in Klopp’s Liverpool that the captain and vice captain are probably the two least glamorous players out of our regular starters. They don’t score the goals of Salah or have the air of invincibility that Virgil has but they encapsulate a Jurgen Klopp team. Professionalism, determination, hard work, constantly seeking improvements and always reminding the so called bigger names exactly what is expected of them.
Anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent. Regarding that midfield three however, I wouldn’t swap them with anyone in the world and if they can stay fit for the remainder of the season, we’ll take some stopping.
Attack
Our forward players are on fire just now. Myself and Conor had our own mini match thread on WhatsApp last night as we’d both avoided the score to watch Game of the day later and we were commenting on how much Jota has grown into the false 9 role. He was picking up the perfect spaces between their defenders and midfield and was dragging their CB’s all over the place. He plays the role differently to Bobby, he’s more direct, runs with the ball more and although his link up play isn’t quite as good as Bobby’s, he has more of a striker’s instinct in front of goal, as demonstrated by his two finishes yesterday. He has that knack of being in the right position. A very effective, intelligent footballer, who’s goals to minutes ratio stands up to pretty much anyone’s. What a very shrewd transfer he’s turned out to be.
Mane’s form continues and unlucky with the offside goal yesterday and Salah now sits top of the goal scoring and assist charts. If we win the Champions League it’s difficult to see the Ballon D’or going anywhere else.
Summary
The team is in rude health then, heading into the busy festive period. The injured players are slowly but surely returning, Thiago’s shaken off the ring rust, Robbo’s back to his devastating best and we’ve just set a new record for scoring two or more goals in consecutive games.
Everton up next then and as I write this I’m watching them losing 1-0 to Brentford and it’s difficult to make much of a case for them being able to put a dent in us at all, although we all know form can go out the window in a derby but I just don’t see it with this group of players we’ve currently got. They’re too experienced, too used to playing in big games and too well drilled to let an occasion get on top of them. Rafa will no doubt have a plan and set them up to be difficult to break down but I just don’t see that they have the weapons in their arsenal to hurt us.
Right that’s it for this week, hopefully the Mancs do us a favour against Chelsea later. Walk on!
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