Vital points. Get in. Brilliant in the first half and we really should have killed the game off. But never mind - I'll take it
Gerrard applauding all the players in with special hugs and smiles for Lucas and Mignolet. Looks like the team are right behind Mig despite all the issues.
Markovic MOTM, Can a close 2nd. No one else really did too much. Lucas broke up play well, if we're genuinely thinking of loaning him out we better have a World class CDM ready to come in and replace him. NOT Scheinderlin
Balotelli was useless, more so than usual. Really hope we sell him and bring someone in. Sunderland were so poor today, if Sturridge was playing that could have been a mauling.
A win is a win. Thought we should have made more of our possession in the first half. Good to see Marko play well again, looks as if he may prove a good signing now he has got used to a new league which is more physical and faster than he is used to.
yea but do you want a lucas passing the ball back to a lovern who had a player already closing in? I don't... you have lovern pass it back to the keepr there is no press and you see what occurs. Sometimes mingolet can even get it across to sahko... What you REALLY want is 3/4 options of the player on the ball at all times we lack that quite a bit... the first half here is was easy to do.
Standout players for me were: Sakho - brilliant at the back and has been since he came back from injury Can - ability to slot into different positions easily, strong, physical, and I love the way he can pick the ball up and run with it Lucas - I think he pretty much won everything. He wasn't pressured that much but a good performance. Markovic - playing in unfamiliar roles is his only way into the team it seems but I'm really surprised by his defensive ability. A lot more productive in the first half and made some good runs. Coutinho - the magician in the middle. Can't say anything more.
i agree... In general first half you could but after sending off our players dropped intensity so much it was poor then
We need more players like Sakho and Can at the back - they are extremely confident on the ball and CREATE the space/opening for others. Players like Lovren and Skrtel will have options but they will always choose the safe option.
I thought Balotelli was ok when he came on. Ignoring the free kick and poor shot that followed he did alright. He came on to hold the ball up and be a focal point which he did. He won some important free kicks late on to relieve pressure, dribbled well and beat some players, got into the box as well. From what I saw, he was far better than Borini who I didn't see touch the ball in the 2nd half before he came on.
He's been doing this since he's been been at the club really. Needs to play with a partner to get the best out of him. But with the ball at this feet, he can hold it up and has the skill to beat a man. Far better hold up player than Lambert who seriously has no value to this team.
Feel sorry for Lambert because he obviously wants to succeed probably more than anyone else in the team but he needs a set system and a partner to feed more than anything. Balotelli I don't think will be a huge success but as you say, he can do that hold up and he had the pace to at least beat a man and go down the wing. Just needs to be trained into him.
He's still young enough to adapt - there must be a reason why the lad is so highly rated by so many (I'm not that convinced!) but he certainly does have something about him.
2nd half - we were. Lacked the intensity and struggled at the back. Would be simple to pin the blame on Lovren because it wasn't all his fault but we certainly lose that ability to build from the back once we took Can out.
You've got to remember there was a strong wind against us in the second half, which made it hard for us at times, but we still managed them to pretty much zero chances.
Point proven. https://twitter.com/Squawka/status/553910817423626240 People that are saying he does nothing, amazing. Yes he might not score many goals (Despite getting 10 in a struggling Sunderland last year) but a striker has to do more than just poach goals. Balotelli and Lambert do neither!
