Elmo (his best performance ever...what an engine) Sagbo (so strong, great in the air, just needs more support to be great) Bruce (Alex was a rock against Suarez etc. Hard to choose between him and Curtis...both brilliant). Fantastic team effort.
Gotta admit when I first heard Bruce was starting I thought it was a bad call, but what a performance it was. Elmohamady was much better with slightly less defensive responsibilities, Brady looked to have some improvement, although he still isn't fully at it yet. Big mention for McGregor too, as if he didn't make that crucial save, Liverpool could well have won. Koren was the only disappointment to be honest, but everyone else was outstanding.
Livermore Sagbo Meyler To be fair Bruce and Davies where unlucky to miss out. When Bruce misplaced a pass in the first few minutes i thought what have we done but he was excellent. However i thought Livermore was brilliant he made runs and showed for the ball a lot further forward that he has done before. Sagbo held it up, made runs, made them play the ball. Meyler can't be dropped now, what a performance. I think all 11 deserve it today, they really do.
I could have picked any of our centre halves in mine, but I thought they were all excellent, and it was the pressing them higher up from our midfield that won us the game, which is why I went with the three I went with. Best game Figueroa's had for us for me. We could quite easily keep this system for the rest of the season, it gives us so much flexibility to switch formations during the game and it means we don't need a striker quite so much.
Bruce Livermore Davies Great performances across the board - only disappointment was Robbie Koren who struggled from the first minute.
1) Bruce (most definitely first) 2) Sagbo 3) Davies EDIT: Alex Bruce's other half will probably greet him with 'Darling, are you just pleased to see me or is that a Suarez in your pocket?'
I thought Koren did alright, did just about everything he could have done, didn't do a lot wrong. Had some good touches, made some good passes, good ball retention, always in the right place, even made a great block tackle to stop them advancing in to our box. Not as impressive as the rest but wasn't poor by a long stretch.
I think Koren grew into the game. Once he realised his role was to be the outlet pass and picking up the knock downs, his performance improved greatly. He set up a lot of our attacking plays with just reading the game well and playing simple passes to the rushing Meyler/Livermore or the wing backs.
I agree, not sure if I was watching the same game as everyone else as I thought he linked up well with Sagbo in the first half. He also made a vital tackle when Brady went off injured to stop Sterling playing the ball across the goal to Suarez.
Livermore Davies Meyler Every player was excellent today, especially in the 2nd half, special mention to Alex Bruce, I've called him many times including before the game, but he did everything he had to and more today, it shows what a difference playing with quality players makes.
Koren was incredibly sloppy first half, giving the ball away four times in a row with Brucie getting really wound up. I think we seriously need a replacement for him in the creative midfield position. Sessegnon would have been brilliant and has performed well for West Brom.
I think Saggy just about deserved it. I said to my mate at about 80 mins that if I was Sagbo, I'd be requiring oxygen assistance about now. Ran his socks off, battled physically, he was excellent. And has been said about Brucington, top drawer. Gave the 'world class' Suarez nowt. Not bad for a League 1 standard player... Sagbo Bruce Livermore
1. Davies - Passion, drive, heart. Rapidly becoming my favourite City defender since a lesser-known Justin Whittle! 2. Livermore - Some brilliant touches in midfield, made Lucas look very ordinary. 3. Sagbo - Quite frankly, worked his arse off. Special mentions also go to McGregor's fantastic save in the 2nd half, Thudd for being in the right place at the right time and David Meyler's fantastic midfield performance. Rejoice ladies and gents, and bring on the Gunners on Wednesday. COYH!
