Who was Liverpool's 'Man of the Match' against Hull City? There are several compelling candidates, but according to Saints legend Matt Le Tissier, makeshift left-back James Milner delivered the best performance of the day.
Analysing the Reds' 5-1 victory for Sky Sports, Le Tissier raved:
“Lallana was excellent [but] Milner’s outstanding performance stopped him getting man of the match.”
Milner put in an impressive shift, but I'd have to go agree with the majority of Liverpool fans, who - via the club's official website - selected Adam Lallana as MoTM.
I'm a major critic of Lallana, but only because he has consistently failed to deliver the goods over the last two seasons. However, this season, he has hit the ground running, and deserves credit for that.
As regular visitors will attest, I judge all players the same way (i.e. using, where possible, objective criteria to establish if a player is fulfilling their primary role in the team), and if Lallana is grabbing goals/assists on a regular basis, I have absolutely no problem with him being in the team.
That said, I make no apology for my prior criticism of Lallana, or indeed any LFC player. Performance fluctuates throughout the season, and personal view on players should (IMO) change to reflect that (as opposed to remaining rigid due to blind faith and/or refusal to accept reality).
As such, the fact that Lallana is playing well right now doesn't retroactively render previous criticism invalid. Similarly, if - as he has in the past - Lallana undergoes another barren long spell (as he has several times for Liverpool), then criticism will be warranted yet again.
For now, though, Lallana is displaying admirable consistency, and long may it continue.
* Reportedly on £120k-a-week.
Analysing the Reds' 5-1 victory for Sky Sports, Le Tissier raved:
“Lallana was excellent [but] Milner’s outstanding performance stopped him getting man of the match.”
Milner put in an impressive shift, but I'd have to go agree with the majority of Liverpool fans, who - via the club's official website - selected Adam Lallana as MoTM.
I'm a major critic of Lallana, but only because he has consistently failed to deliver the goods over the last two seasons. However, this season, he has hit the ground running, and deserves credit for that.
As regular visitors will attest, I judge all players the same way (i.e. using, where possible, objective criteria to establish if a player is fulfilling their primary role in the team), and if Lallana is grabbing goals/assists on a regular basis, I have absolutely no problem with him being in the team.
That said, I make no apology for my prior criticism of Lallana, or indeed any LFC player. Performance fluctuates throughout the season, and personal view on players should (IMO) change to reflect that (as opposed to remaining rigid due to blind faith and/or refusal to accept reality).
As such, the fact that Lallana is playing well right now doesn't retroactively render previous criticism invalid. Similarly, if - as he has in the past - Lallana undergoes another barren long spell (as he has several times for Liverpool), then criticism will be warranted yet again.
For now, though, Lallana is displaying admirable consistency, and long may it continue.
* Reportedly on £120k-a-week.
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