18 Oct 2011

GARY GILLESPIE: "I didn’t appreciate just how good Jose Enrique is..."

Former Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie has been singing the praises of Liverpool left-back Jose Enrique, who put in another solid performance against Manchester United at Anfield last Saturday.

Gillespie, who was a consistently good defender for Liverpool, enthused:

"I haven’t seen him [Enrique] have a bad game to be honest. He looks very solid defensively. He’s a big strong unit, and he’s very difficult to shove off the ball.

"What I like about him as well is he’s got ability, and composure when he’s in possession of the ball, and for a left back, that’s got to be a big plus for Liverpool.

"He’s also got a great understanding with Stewart Downing, and when he goes forward, he’s a threat…but he just needs to work a little bit on the quality of balls into the box.


Gillespie admits he's been surprised by Enrique's qualit:

"I looked at him when he was at Newcastle, and thought he was a good player, but I didn’t appreciate just how good he is.

"It’s early days yet, but if he continues the way he’s started then that’s great for Liverpool".


Enrique is clearly a good player, but as Gillespie says, it's early days yet. All new players at Liverpool are desperate to impress and play well in their first few months - the real test will be to see how long he can sustain his form.

Enrique was voted man of the match on LFC.tv for the Man United game, but I would argue it was one of his lesser performances this season. He gave the ball away quite a few times during the game, and his passing was a little lax, especially in the first half.

There was particularly concerning moment in the first half where Enrique was tackled about 30 yards from Liverpool's six yard box by United's Park Ji Sung, who ran at goal and managed to get a shot off.

These are small blips though; overall, Enrique's level of performance has been high, and hopefully it will continue, or even improve as the season progresses.

Jaimie Kanwar


5 comments:

  1. So far, he's the signing of the summer

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  2. I think he has been the most solid player from the new group by far!
    Bellamy has done everything right given the little time on the park this far!
    But Enrique is solid as a rock back there with as stated a real threat in attack!
    Ole Jose!

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  3. Agree with this he has been immense so far, very quick and strong!!!!

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  4. Am I the only person who thinks this guy is an accident waiting to happen.  He point blank refuses to use his right foot, preferring to switch the ball to his left EVERY time.  Wont be long before somebody works him out.

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  5. I'm happy with him as at the time he was the best available option to us because he knows the league, knows the lingo/culture and has consistently shown in his last 2 seasons, at NUFC, what a solid player he is.

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