Football News: Liverpool v Fulham - A Liverpool Perspective

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Liverpool v Fulham A Liverpool Perspective

This match could have been so different, if the Fulham goal was allowed to stand or the referee had noticed that Alisson took the resulting free kick with a moving ball, the little bit of luck that has been missing in recent years is finally going Liverpool's way again. Overall it was a routine, dominant cruise to victory by a team barely getting out of second gear against a team that could not cope with the movement of the players.

There were a couple of moments, mainly down to individual errors though, rather than being outplayed, this seems to be a consistent problem against weaker teams, something that needs to be looked into. So far they have not cost the team anything, but it will happen at some point, if it is not addressed. The good thing is that is the only overall bad point about the team performance that can really be picked out.

It was not a scintillating performance by any means, there was no need to for that, it was more workmanlike with flashes of incredible attacking play. They did the job, extended the long unbeaten home run and went home, yet still some fans are finding things to moan about, even if they have to make stuff up about body language issues etc.

In fact the win could, should even, have been much bigger, as Fulham should have been down to ten men, which I am surprised more was not made of. Chambers' tackle (assault?) was worse than the one that Dale Stephens was rightly sent off for and could have seriously injured Salah. I am surprised no one has even mentioned it in the media when so much is usually made of those kind of challenges.

Klopp - got it pretty much spot on tactically with a team that gradually took charge of the game and took a deserved win. Hard to pick holes in anything that he did. Rating: 7.5.

Alisson - one of his more comfortable games and showed his excellence in distributing the ball as well as how quick thinking he can be. However, there was a moment or two when he could really have done better, probably should have caught one ball that ended up needing to be cleared. Overall though, the distribution makes up for any small errors. Rating: 7.

Alexander-Arnold - despite seeming to spend half the game beating himself up for small errors, he had a decent game. The tactics used created time and space for him to use and he used them fairly well. His delivery is still not quite at its best but he is getting back to his best after a few struggles. Rating: 6.5.

Gomez - the defence looks so much more solid with him at the back. His recovery pace, calmness on the ball and ability to bring the ball out from defence are invaluable. There were a few worrying signs of confusion with van Dijk which allowed breakthroughs, though that is going to happen at times. Overall he did ok. Rating: 6.5.

van Dijk - I was worried with the ease in which Sessegnon got through, which was down to a lax moment by van Dijk. He fell asleep and failed to track the movement of Mitrovic or to pass him over to Gomez, leaving Mitrovic in acres to head the ball on to Sessegnon, while both centre backs dithered, giving Sessegnon a run. As the senior partner, it is his responsibility to take charge of these situations, but he failed to do so and that created the problem. That is something that needs to be sorted out before better teams exploit it. Rating: 6.

Robertson - a much better game from Robertson, with Fulham having very little joy down his flank while he was still able to get forward and take part in attacks. One of the better players on the pitch. Rating: 7.5.

Wijnaldum - offered little for large portions of the game, though he was not hiding like he does in away games, he was just ineffective. Luckily for him that Fulham midfield was too busy chasing around trying to track Firmino to really cause problems. It was little surprise he got the hook in the second half as he was offering so little. Rating: 4.5.

Fabinho - did well, kept control of the midfield breaking up their atacks and playing some good balls. Admittedly not the sternest test he will face all season, but he played his role. Rating: 6.5.

Shaqiri - scored a fantastic goal and played well. Made a real difference to the team with his movement and quality. Rating: 8.

Salah - was almost back to his best, even after Chambers tried to smash his ankle. Ran them ragged, scored an excellent goal and worked extremely hard. Combined really well with Firmino on a number of occasions. Rating: 8.5.

Firmino - I have read a surprising amount of criticism of his performance, not sure why. He was one of the better players on the pitch. Anguissa spent most of the game just chasing him around, leaving a huge gaping hole in midfield. Despite having Anguissa trying everything to mark him out of the game, he was able to link up play really well, some lovely quick interchanges with Salah in particular. Rating: 7.5.

Mane - decent performance, showed some real flashes of quality to run past players like Mane of old. In fact there were signs that the front three were all coming back to form, sadly at the wrong time for Liverpool as there is now an international break to endure. Rating: 7.

Subs:

Henderson - came in for Wijnaldum in the 69th minute and immediately the team seemed better. The team looked more solid and more capable of scoring at the same time. Rating: 6.5.

Milner - replaced Shaqiri in the 81st minute as Klopp looked to close out the game. He did his job as usual, and as usual did it well with lots of energy. Rating: 6.

Keita - only came on for the dying seconds to replace Fabinho. Had no time to do anything but it was good to see him back on the pitch. Rating: 5.

Written by Tris Burke November 13 2018 10:26:30