Really good performance today. Things weren't going our way but we kept probing without trying to force it. Sterling and Coutinho were magical once more, and Sakho was simply unbeatable.
could have done with pushing for a few more goals to help our terrible gd. but i'll take 2 goals and a clean sheet. Job done
Sakho is a beast and our best CB by a country mile. Couthino/Sterling/Studge should be our front three all the time. Ibe should play in place of Markovic, with Marko coming off the bench more often. Good game lads!
Some good performances, but I was disappointed with Markovic today after his recent few performances. Had no final ball and pretty wasteful. Problem is if he doesn't play it means Henderson will be forced out wide or even worse, Johnson . Can was shaken early and didn't really recover, but we'll see how he bounces back next game. Not bad overall. 2-0, clean sheet, Sturridge back, Sterling and Coutinho lively. Sturridge to start next game ahead of Lallana by the looks of it? Keep the rest unchanged - this is by far our best team right now.
Sakho is my MOTM. Incredible performance. Marko struggled with his passing today. Not sure Ibe is suited to the wing back role though.
Think the elbow in his mouth from that dickwad Carroll bothered Can, rightly so since it looked like he'd be swallowing mouthfuls of his own blood for the rest of the match.
I think it's pretty simple. Ibe out wide in place of Marko and Studge for Couthino. Keep the rest as it's as good as we have! Ibe did more in 20 mins than Marko in the 70 before it. His final ball is dreadful and I think he'd benefit from knowing Ibe is starting ahead of him a bit.
Yeah his passing was really poor today. Problem is, we don't really have anyone else for that role without having to resort to horrible choices like the two you mentioned. But Marko has improved so will keep him in for time being. I don't think Can was too bad but wasn't one of his better performances.
Only one way to find out really. Either Ibe or Manquillo, I'd be happy with either tbh. As long as it isn't Johnson!
Happy with that. At last we can play the best of what we have. Just in time as february is a hard month. Over the moon that Studge is back an scoring
I certainly wouldn't drop Markovic on that performance, but Ibe had a good cameo and Lazar now might know he has to step it up with an increasingly growing list of competition for that spot now. Ibe should keep his spot on the bench though. Lallana would be the one to lose his spot based on today's performance, but then he rarely gets much of a run so it can be hard to find some consistency.
Studge for Coutinho?!?!?! Why would you want our best player out of the team. Lallana should only ever be on the bench, he suffers from the same disease as Allen.
Not seen any of the game but harsh to moan about Markovic. He's still young and in his first season and still playing in a position he's never played before this season. He's done some good work defensively in previous games despite him being a forward really. I wouldn't want to throw Ibe into a RWB position in high profile games. Hard enough for him to come in and perform in his usual position let alone a defensive one! Glad Sturridge is back, hope we continue to nurse him through the next couple of games though so he can gradually build up his fitness. The teams confidence should be really high now, lots of good defensive performances and yet another clean sheet to do Mig the world of good. Starting to play decent football again and Coutinho/Sterling are continue to link up well. Add Sturridge and his potential goals into the mix and the push for 4th place is well and truly back on.
