Football News: Liverpool v Bournemouth - A Liverpool Perspective

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Liverpool v Bournemouth

Well that was much better for my blood pressure than the previous game! It was so comfortable, from start to finish it felt like a win and there was never a moment that Bournemouth seemed capable of doing any more than keeping the score down. It was completely one-sided and the only real downer is that Liverpool should have scored a few more goals, the chances were there.

The most pleasing aspect is the defending, at least until Lovren went off injured! After years of having to defend the coaching staff as people question why they are not drilling the defence and pointing out they are but it is just not sticking, it is nice to see that the work done on the training ground is now paying off. The offside trap is working well and the setpieces are being attacked and won by a defender more often than not.

Klopp - what Klopp has done is create a fear factor, similar to the one Man City had at the start of the season. Right now other teams are almost beaten before the game kicks off, they have no answer to the front three and are struggling to make real inroads against the defence.

Karius - did well, another solid performance.

Alexander-Arnold - excellent. His delivery from wide areas is top class and his defending is coming on in leaps and bounds. My worry is that he is playing so well he will be sure to go to Russia in the summer when I would like him to put his feet up and recover ready to go again next season.

Lovren - another really good game from the Croatian. It is a genuine worry that he is out injured as he has slotted in so well alongside van Dijk they look a good solid pair at the back.

van Dijk - a good performance from van Dijk until asked to swap to the right after Lovren went off injured. That is clearly not comfortable for him and it would be a worry if he had to play there for a run of games. Up until that point he was playing really well.

Robertson - how things have changed for him. Still charging around like crazy and getting up and down the pitch, putting in the same level of performance as he did when people were raving about him. However, he is, right now, being completely outshone by Alexander-Arnold. He played well yet there is an argument to be made that he was Liverpool's worst player on the day, which just shows what a good team performance it was, rather than is any slight on Robertson.

Oxlade-Chamberlain - his best performance so far. He was outstanding. That was a performance which almost had it all, chasing back to break up play, pressing, dominating possession, running with the ball, passing, crossing and creating chances. The only thing it lacked was a goal to put the icing on the cake.

Henderson - excellent first half and nearly as good in the second. Controlled the game from the start.

Wijnaldum - he always plays so much better at home. He had a decent game, a good game even, though I still want to see more from him, there is more in there and we should be seeing it in games like this.

Salah - What. A. Goal! Once again he bullied an opposition defence with his ability as much as his pace. The control of the ball to just slip past a defender and keep it out of their reach to set up a shooting chance is sublime. They doubled up on him constantly, sometimes tripled up, and it was still not enough to stop him.

Mane - superb performance. Caused merry hell with his running and trickery. Just missed a final ball on a couple of occasions.

Firmino - just when you think he could not possibly get any better, he does. Sensational performance in a game littered with excellent ones from Liverpool players his stood out. So glad he got to add a goal before going off as well, as it was beginning to look like it would not happen for him.

Subs:

Milner - came on in place of Mane in the 76th minute and showed his usual energy and kept the pressure on Bournemouth.

Klavan - unfortunately for Klavan, when Lovren went off injured in the 82nd minute, and he replaced him, it unsettled the defence badly. Suddenly it offered the Cherries a sniff of a chance until Firmino killed the game off.

Solanke - coming on in the 90th minute in place of Firmino was more about running down the clock than anything else. He had no time to have any kind of effect on the match.

Written by Tris Burke April 15 2018 09:39:27