29 Oct 2011

FULL TIME: West Brom 0-2 Liverpool. VIDEO and player ratings...

In a scrappy game at the Hawthorns, Liverpool have beaten West Brom 2-0.

TEAM: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Skrtel, Agger, Adam, Lucas, Henderson, Downing, Carroll, Suarez.

Subs: Doni, Maxi, Coates, Kuyt, Spearing, Flanagan, Bellamy.



PLAYER RATINGS

Reina - 7/10

Nothing to do really but some dodgy clearances, which wasted possession.

Johnson - 6/10

Pretty solid overall (for a change) but his end product in the final third was pretty poor. Like Downing, his crosses rarely beat the first defender, and if they do, they rarely find another Liverpool player.

Enrique - 6.5/10

Solid as usual. Didn't get forward that much, which was a shame considering how poor West Brom were. Rushed things a bit at times, and gave the ball away needlessly.

Skrtel - 8/10

Solid, dependable defensive performance, and came up with a couple of great blocks. Never put under any real pressue. A walk in the park really.

Agger - 8.5/10

Excellent performance. Stuck to WB's attackers like glue; good distribution along the ground; no hoofing the ball upfield. Let's hope he stays fit!

Adam - 7.5/10

Another effective performance. A couple of stray passes here and there but kept the midfield moving, and held his nerve to score the penalty. That's two goals and 4 assists in 10 games for Adam so far this season, which is a great return.

Lucas - 8/10

Tidy performance. Won everything in midfield but didn't really need to break sweat.

Henderson - 6/10

Didn't create anything of note during the game, which is a shame considering West Brom were extremely poor. He's clearly lacking confidence, and often went for the easy square ball whilst in possession instead of taking the initiative and doing something himself. Henderson really needs to start imposing himself on games; if he can't make an impression against an atrocious West Brom team, then that's a problem (IMO)

Downing - 4/10

Abject. Utterly anonymous for 89 minutes, then hit the post. Everything about Downing's game was/is poor, especially his crossing. This was Downing's 11th game this season and he still has no goals or assists to his name. Liverpool should be expecting a hell of a lot more for the 20m outlay.

Carroll - 6/10

Scored a goal, which is great, but his performance overall was arguably average. Spent too much time on the left wing when he should've been in the box.

Suarez - 8/10

Created both goals and was constantly threatening. If he wasn't playing today, it's hard to see where the goals would've come from.

POSITIVES

* Suarez - Didn't score but got two more assists.

* Agger - It's great to have a ball-playing centre back in the team again. Plus, he didn't get injured!

* Andy Carroll scored; hopefully, he'll keep his place for the next game and keep regaining his confidence.

* One point off third place after 10 games.

NEGATIVES

* Downing is a waste of 20m. He needs to be benched.

* It's concerning that the team couldn't finish West Brom off in the second half. There was no real urgency from Liverpool; it was a perfect opportunity for the team to boost its goal difference, but poor finishing, and sloppy passing let West Brom back into the game.

* Lots of unforced errors all over the pitch today. The worst offenders were Jose Enrique, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll.

Jaimie Kanwar


26 comments:

  1. What a difference the back four have made. at least the team can concentrate on going forward rather than worried about being done for pace at back.

    Suarez is awesome again. world class..involved in everything.

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  2. Want to see more from Adam this half

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  3. mali341 are you happy now?

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  4. terrible ratings you have give. All the back four deserved at least an 8, carroll's work rate and willingness was superb and he deserved at least a 7.5 and the 4 you have give downing is laugable. i really do question your support of our team. it seems you struggle to say good things and are always very negative.

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  5. Agger was pure class...Best man by far!

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  6. I'm entitled to my opinion, and if you don't like it then go to some other site. 

    Apart from hitting the post in the 89th minute, what did Downing do in the game? Nothing is the answer.

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  7. i'm not saying that you arnt entitled to your opinion but likewise so am i. downing provided a link up on the left, barely gave the ball away and most importantly the link up play between him and jose gets better every game. i agree he needs to score and assist more but you seem to miss the things that he does do very well.

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  8. Its an improvement and am happy with the back four today. just hope Kenny sticks to the same back four for the next game . by the way Jamie where's the major mistake that you guaranteed Glen Johnson was going to make.

    Skate..agger and Johnson have been solid

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  9. What link up on the left? The mere fact of having someone on the left wing means there's a link-up. That's not enough though; the player has to have some discernible impact, and Downing had none. What's even more concerning is that he couldn't make an impact against such an atrocious team.

    Give me one example of alleged link-up play between him and Enrique today that had any positive end result.

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  10. I'm absolutely delighted with that result .

    What a magnificent performance , inch by inch is how you climb a mountain & by God we are climbing it inch by inch !

    Improvement on top of improvement !

    I'm delighted in the way we knocked the ball about & composedly controlled the game particularly in the 2'nd half .

    Big Andy is starting to look more like himself , Charlie & Lucas were rock solid in midfield , the back 4 was brilliant & Downing & Henderson yet again made priceless contributions to our possession game as we moved our attacking pieces into more dangerous areas .

    Andy took his goal superbly , all he needs is a hat trick or two this season & we could yet be looking at a 40+ goal partnership with him & wee Luis who I think I'm in love with !

    Downing & Henderson were once again 100% danger all day long , their defense didnt get one minutes relaxation throughout the game & Downing  proved his quality getting on the end of a move in the final minutes , beat the keeper & hit tha target , man oh man but he has been unlucky for us so far ! 10 times we have hit the woodwork at least this season & Downing has hit it at least twice himself !

    Mark my words on this , as soon as he gets one he is going to go on a run of goals !

    God knows he's long over due a bit of luck .

    All in all I couldnt be much happier with him .

    Downing is a fantastic player , everything I knew he was before we signed him , composed , intelligent , brave in possession , tactically superb , wonderfully versatile with great leadership quality , he never says die his head never goes down & he is always one touch away from turning your lights out .

    He is better than Riebery & once he gets in the habit of bagging a goal or two he will genuinely be rivaling Arjen Robben .

    The only thing I'm disappointed about today is our choice of captain , I think Skrtel is a fine option when Gerrard & Carra arent available for selection & I think Downing , Adam & Johnson should be considered ahead of a goalkeeper .

    Pepe's quality is undeniable but I personally think a team has to be led from its midfield barring that a commanding Centre back & baring that a wonderful striker whose consistency & performances are beyond question so that his lead can be followed & his directions respected .

    Besides that Pepe made an awful blunder by publicly admitting he wanted to join Arsenal because we had 1 single season outside the top 4 .

    Thats not inspiring talk , behavior or attitude worthy of leading our club .

    I'm absolutely buzzing lads !

    Delighted !

    That was a horribly tough fixture today & we made it look comfortable , top 4 sides are going to go there & fail to get a point .

    We arent setting the world on fire but by God we are grinding sides down like That Big Beautiful Red Machine that once (& Twice & Thrice & Etc Etc ) so gloriously trampled all over England & Europe .

    Flair will follow but its hard to deny our foundations are looking very solid .

    Brilliant result today !

    I hope tha boys go out & party tonight coz they deserve a pat on tha back after the fixtures we have just completed .


     

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  11. your wrong jaimie, he was not that bad but i agree he was not that good either. average game. confident he will be a good signing

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  12. I agree Downing was terrible, but I don't think Adam was good. Apart from his penalty he gave the ball away too much and didn't influence the game enough for someone in his position.

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  13. Almost spot on with the ratings Jaimie, except that I scored 7 each for both Skrtel and Agger.  

    West Brom were below par and made it easy for us.  The amount of time our players had on the ball we should have scored at least 4 goals.  It goes back to the main point; Liverpool can't kill off teams.Lucas was very good again today, he's as important to the team as Suarez.

    Carroll and Downing worry me, him hitting the post does not equate to good a good performance.

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  14. Well playd we beat one of our rivals...watch out villa and the rest

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  15.  Mali is correct everyone , ya only get one point for a win away to West Brom while ya get 3 for a win at Arsenal because Mali thinks they are more fashionable & he likes to dream about throwing his girlish panties at them in adoration !

    7 games unbeaten & we havent found form yet !

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  16. Can't say I disagree with any of the ratings really.  Downing is and always has been a very average left midfielder.  I agree with mali341,The key today was being able to play a high defensive line to engage our midfield further up the pitch.  Decent display.

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  17. He is better than Riebery

    It my turn to laugh

    Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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  18.  Are we talking about the same Ribery ?

    Frank Ribery at Bayern Munich ?

    If so you really need to reevaluate how you watch football because not just over 90 minutes but over 38 games Downing is head & shoulders above Ribery .

    Outa 10 if Downing is a consistent 8 then Ribery is a 7 & that extra wee bitta class is the difference between 1'st & 2'nd or winning a final & losing one .

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  19. You are being unfairly harsh on Downing

    He jointly tops the Opta Shot Assist stat for Liverpool

    Both have created 20 goalscoring opportunities for the team

    Check it out for yourself

    http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/first-team/statistics

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  20. Ye and Downing is better than Ribery ...oh after todays performance he is better than Messi too.

    Downing should get the Ballon d'Or' award and if we are not careful Wigan might lure him away with Champion ship football

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  21. Yes, I've seen that Simon, but so what? If at the end of the season, Downing is at the top sill but has no goals or assists, what difference does it make?

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  22. I agree that almost scoring doesn't quite cut it, you either score or you don't. Hitting the post 20 times a season is useless etc

    But to be guilty of almost assisting/creating goals is a bit of a stretch, both Kuyt and Henderson should have scored against United from Downing crosses, why does he get no credit for providing the opportunities?

    Opta does recognise chance creation

    I don't think that it is fair to judge a winger's contribution by how many goals the forward scores, I have mentioned this before

    The Shot assist stat tells us how many chances he created. Himself and Suarez have both provided 20

    Stats certainly don't tell the whole story I agree, but once Opta stats are used to back up an argument about any player etc, then surely it's fair to use other stats from the same source in other arguments

    I agree Downing hasn't set the world alight so far, but he has probably been better than you have so far represented

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  23. Yes, you're probably right, but perhaps I'm a little more harsh on Downing because he's a full international, and vastly experienced in the Premier League. Today's game was the ideal opportunity to really show what he can do, and despite West Brom being ridiculously poor, and allowing Liverpool lots of time on the ball, he did nothing of note. Downing should be dominating these types of games.

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  24.  Downing & Messi play completely different positions on the pitch & within those positions they play complete different roles within their respective teams .

    You may as well have compared him to Casillas or Nesta because you cant get more ridiculous than you already are .

    I'm under no illusion that Downing is the best player in the world , not even John Barnes or Steven Gerrard has won the Ballon d'Or but thats no shame because to my knowledge only Micheal Owen & Christian Ronaldo are the only players to have ever won it while playing in England , that aside Downing is a strong candidate for player of the season in England , definitely a strong candidate for OUR player of the season & without a shadow of a doubt not only is he the very best winger we could have possibly bought for OUR needs he is also without doubt the very best winger in England bar none .

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  25. Jamie - I think that your ratings are pretty harsh in some places (and notably generous in others!)

    fwiw, my ratings would be:

    Reina 7/10 – Did what little he had to do with little fuss
    Enrique 7.5 – Solid at the back, but not as involved in attack as in previous games.
    Agger 7.5 – Beaten a couple of times but brought the ball into the final third on a number of occasions. Grew defensively as the team took a more defensive outlook in the second half
    Skrtel 8 – One of his most effective Liverpool displays. Covered for any teammates mistakes made at the back rather than making them himself and was effective with the ball at his feet also, helping to maintain our possession game.
    Johnson 7 – Beaten on the ground a couple of times but never made to pay for it. Heavily influenced the build up play through the midfield.
    Downing 5.5 – Posed no threat to the opposition, even when the team was comfortably on top. Hit the post in the last minute, but even a goal would’ve just masked another underwhelming performance. Anything else that he did positive running away from the ball.
    Lucas 7.5 – Used the ball well and got around efficiently. Far less effective as the team took a more passive approach off the ball in the second half though.
    Adam 6 – Gave the ball away on a number of occasions, even while the team were well on top. Converted the penalty well, but again became a relative non-entity as the team decided to defend deeper.
    Henderson 6.5 – Tidy on the ball and involved a lot early on as the team zipped the ball around early. Yet another one that faded as the team began to take a more passive approach to defending in the second half.
    Suarez 8 – Becoming a typical performance for him. Directly involved in both of our goals and looks a threat practically any time he gets to face up against 2 defenders or less.
    Carroll 7.5 – In a surprising turn of events he’s operating more as a link man than a target man. Apparently had a number of shots throughout the game, but it’s hard to remember him as being a genuine individual threat throughout but rather as a tidy, team player. Finished a quick counterattack for a nice goal nevertheless.
     
    Dalglish 7 – the victory is all that matters at the end of the day so he has to get some credit, but I can’t help but be concerned at his continued passivity on the touchlines. WBA were allowed waaay much more of the ball than they deserved in the second half, and yet again Dalglish failed to do anything to arrest their momentum, merely making a single token sub in the dying minutes.
     
    Team 7.5 – That’s the best we’ve looked on the ball, and the best that our defensive unit has looked, but we again just conceded the midfield to the opposition in the second half. The passing and movement is improving, but we will have to be far more proactive defensively if we want to be an elite team again – sitting back and waiting for the opposition to give the ball away just isn’t going to cut it

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  26. Brehon , i do not know how to answer you , but you are a moron .

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