Football News: Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers - A Liverpool Perspective
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Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers A Liverpool Perspective
A difficult match to review, though you can not fault Wolves for their part in the game, they gave their all. It was not enough to get a result, but at least they came to make it as difficult as possible for Liverpool. It would have been nice if they had taken the game to Liverpool once they conceded, but they have a way of playing and they stuck to it. I think they could have had more of a go at an LFC team that was clearly tiring after their efforts against Barcelona.
As for LFC, they did enough to win, despite badly fading as the second half went on. They took the sting out of Wolves early on and played the ball around well to force Wolves to run around fruitlessly. With all that was on the line, they kept their head and just played the game, that is a huge plus.
Santo - he is an excellent coach, however I do feel he missed his chance to really take the game to a tired Liverpool team. He stuck to his tried and trusted formula of soaking up pressure in the first half and then becoming more expansive in the second. Also it was a mistake to take off Doherty, as he was the big threat. Rating: 4.
Patricio - oddly had a fairly easy day, despite conceding two goals. He was not pushed to his limits at all. Liverpool had a lot of attempts, but none were troubling other than the two goals. Even a good strike like Robertson's was a fairly simple save for him. Rating: 5.
Bennett - one of the better defensive performances against Mane, but, like so many before him, he was unable to stop Mane at all. I feel for defenders having to come up against Mane, he is unplayable when he is on it. Rating: 4.5.
Coady - it clearly meant everything to him to try and get the result but he was just not able to do enough, despite a couple of blocks and some lovely raking balls out of defence. Rating: 6.
Boly - it will be interesting to see how VAR deals with him as there were a lot of moments he dragged back Salah and he is very 'handsy'. He likes to be physical and get tight, but that just plays into Salah's hands so he grabbed him each time. This season it worked for him, as he got away with it, but it might be a different story next season. If he continues to do that and VAR works as it should, he will be guilty of giving away a lot of set pieces. Rating: 5.5.
Doherty - the standout player for Wolves, which takes some doing when you have Neves, Moutinho, Jimenez and Jota in the side. He was always a danger, particularly in the second half, when raiding forward, but he is also very responsible defensively. He was causing so many problems going forward that Klopp brought on Milner to stifle him. Rating: 7.5.
Dendoncker - came into the game much more in the second half, after struggling to get a sight of the ball in the first. Needs to be better on the ball but he showed more signs that he is a very good foil for the Portugese midfield duo alongside him. Rating: 6.
Neves - needs to be given a lot more of the ball than he did in this match. He does well to help out defensively but you are wasting 80% of his ability if you are not getting the ball at his feet. Far too often Wolves had to resort to missing out the midfield when they retreated back and had no options other than to play it long. Understandable but it feels such a waste of a great talent. Rating: 6.
Moutinho - still a top class player but he is also willing to pitch in and help when his team are under the cosh. Playing alongside him will be a great learning experience for Neves. His reading of the game is really good, it is just a shame he is showing signs of age. He can still play though. Rating: 6.5.
Otto - he is a trier and has a hell of a lot of ability, but he was caught between a rock and a hard place a lot of the time and ended up doing neither. He failed to stop Alexander-Arnold getting forward and really struggled to make inroads himself in the attacking third. Rating: 3.5.
Jimenez - he had a thankless task in the first half and was very isolated but he gets through an incredible amount of work. He just never stops running and was popping up on the edge of the Wolves box making a clearance one second, the next he is chasing a Liverpool defender down. Shame, from a Wolves perspective, that he did not get the service, as he deserved something for all his efforts. Rating: 7.
Jota - if only he was a bit more clinical, he got himself into a good position a few times and gave the ball away or wasted the final ball. Good skill, pace and workrate, but he just needs a bit of polishing up into a diamond. Rating: 6.5.
Subs:
Traore - replaced Doherty on 80 minutes. Absolute waste of a sub bringing him on. Doherty was causing issues while Traore causes nothing but issues for his own team. Rating: 2.
Gibbs-White - brought on in place of Moutinho after 84 minutes. Never had time to get into a game that was over when he came on. Rating: 5.
Vinagre - took the place of Otto after 84 minutes. Another one who had no time to really affect the game. Rating: 5.
Klopp - to keep the players focused on this game, despite all that was going on with the crowd listening to the Man City game etc and knowing the players could easily have got distracted by that, was one hell of a job. To keep them going, when it was clear that City were winning easily and his players were tiring, took real skill. It would have been so easy to just lose it as the players faded, but he kept them going. Rating: 7.5.
Alisson - did what was needed when it was needed. Not that he was really called upon to do too much to keep his clean sheet. Rating: 6.5.
Alexander-Arnold - once more showed some real quality with his deliveries, just a shame he was unable to put that free kick away he had. Despite not getting forward as much as usual, probably saving his energy after the mid-week game, he kept Otto pegged back and caused him real problems. Rating: 8.
Matip - had a good game and gave the Wolves attack little space or time to work anything. Never got carried away on charges forward either. Just did enough when on the ball, as he should, to get it to a more attack-minded player. Rating: 7.
van Dijk - a dominant performance once more with some lovely long passes. Rating: 7.5.
Robertson - had a really good game though his delivery was not quite on point. Some of his closing down was excellent. It is a worry that he picked up an injury again or aggravated his previous one. Rating: 8.
Wijnaldum - looked really leggy and like a player running on empty. Yet he still played a full part in the win. Rating: 6.5.
Henderson - another who looked to fade as the game went on. Still gave it his all, but it was obvious he did not have much left in the tank. Rating: 6.5.
Salah - it showed that he did have Tuesday night off as he looked fit and fresh and caused lots of problems. Just needed a goal. Rating: 7.5.
Mane - scored two and caused mayhem. He has been in stunning form over the last couple of months. Rating: 9.
Origi - struggled to have an impact on the match. The Wolves defence kept him mainly quiet. Rating: 6.
Fabinho - did a good job of front screening the defence as usual. Was not able to provide the telling balls as often as he would like though. Rating: 6.5.
Subs:
Milner - replaced Origi after 64 minutes. As usual he came on and made a difference. He popped up all over the pitch and worked his backside off. Rating: 6.5.
Gomez - was brought on for Robertson in the 84th minute. Shut down the left side and made sure Traore caused no problems at all. Rating: 6.
Oxlade-Chamberlain - brought on in the 88th minute for Wijnaldum. Was on far too late to make a difference. Rating: 5.
Just to explain my ratings. I have gone for what I believe is more simple than the usual of totting up points. I have decided to go with 5 as having no effect on the game other than being a body on the pitch. Anything below 5 is a player who had a negative effect on his team and anything above 5 as a positive effect. So a goal scored would be a positive effect and add to the rating, whereas giving away a penalty with a needless challenge would take away from it.
Written by Tris Burke May 14 2019 09:30:54
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