Ross – @rossic89
‘Classic European away performance’ – That’s a thing. A thing I grew up on in the Houllier and Rafa era’s and you know what, it’s fucking sound. You won’t remember this performance, you won’t need to. All you need to know is that Liverpool won and whacked 3 points on the board in their first UCL game of the season. Not only that, away to Ajax.
For all the concern about our defence going into the game, they were the standout for me. Virgil van Fabinho is now the best CB in the world, closely followed by Joe Gomez.
The front three got a big rest and their replacements were hardly shite. A great night all in all.
Remember, these ratings are just opinions. They in no way have any effect on your life. Don’t get angry. Just let me know yours in the comments below.
Adrian – 6.5
Where to start? Clear your lines. Confusion with Gomez. Good close range save. Dominated his box on crosses. Flapped at other crosses. A real mixed bag there but one I think I feel ok about. I think. Maybe not had Fabinho not dug him out the shit.
Trent – 7
Mad isn’t it, seen lots of criticism for him tonight as he didn’t get forward as much but defensively he was great. But all the talk before was he can’t defend. Can’t have it both ways. Could he have been better? Yes. But in context a European away win with out VVD he was never going to bomb forward.
Gomez – 9
Shaky first ten or fifteen for Joe including a slight miscommunication with Adrian but then fuck me, he went for it and he went big. All the things we wanted to see, confident, assured and aggressive. But controlled aggressive, none of that wild shit. Dominant in the air and on the ground. Well in, Joe.
FABINHO – 10
Fuck me. What a performance that was from Inspector go-go gadget legs Fabinho Tavares. Having none of Ajax’s shite tonight. Just destroyed everything. An athletic goal line clearance, crunching tackles and everything in between. MOTM.
Fabinho vs. Ajax
84% Pass accuracy
7/12 Accurate long passes
9/10 Ground duels won
3/4 Aerial duels won
4 Interceptions
9 ClearancesCrisis, what crisis? Liverpool have world class versatility all over the field. Fabinho embodies that. Imperious today, as usual pic.twitter.com/MGEe1uwwvp
— The Tactical Times (@Tactical_Times) October 21, 2020
Robbo – 9
Another potential contender for MOTM Robbo, if it wasn’t for Fabinho. Ran his bollocks off from start to finish, provided support and decoys for Sadio and Jota AND did his defensive duties.
Gini – 7.5
Quiet for the first half an hour but then grew into the game. Did all the nitty gritty stuff as well as supporting attacks. Could argue he should be walking away with a goal to his name, unlucky with a header and possibly should have tucked away a one on one.
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Milner – 6.5
The man you want on your side in a European away in my opinion. He brings he composure, experience and customary shithouseryness, if that’s even a word, that you need for these fixtures. Not the best first half but who’s arsed?
Jones – 6.5
A big night for Curtis and one he should be proud of. It took the whole team a while to get going in that game but considering he’s a young lad making his Champions League debut he didn’t shy away from the challenge, looked confident on the ball and played on the front foot.
Mane – 7.5
Giving him an assist for the goal that goal you know, he knew what he was doing. Besides that one of the better performers in the first half, heavily involved as usual, unpredictable and caused plenty of problems for Ajax.
Salah – 7
Supply wasn’t great for the front three in the first half but Salah still had chances to score, denied by good defending to be fair. Baffled as to why they all came off on the hour mark but rotation is required I suppose!
Firmino – 6.5
Grew into the game as Ajax opened up a little, some nice touches and brought others into play. Still looks a little shot of confidence or he’s just goosed. Came off with half an hour to go so reckon he’s saving it for something special at the weekend. Still love him.
Subs
Hendo – 8
The impetus and leader in the press, organised a midfield which you could argue was slightly overrun in the first half.
Jota – 8
Bright, energetic and dangerous. A joy to watch tonight and such an exciting player! Can’t wait to see more of him!
Taki – 7
Could copy and paste from Jota to be honest. Such good, close control on the ball and his creativity and vision is exceptional.
Shaqiri – 6
HE’S ALIVE!!!!!!! YESSSSS!
Williams – N/A
Played stoppage time.
Ross – @rossic89
