Yet again, I must apologise for the tardiness of the RAAAAAATTTIIIIINGS! I was in Barcelona and largely delirious for the weekend, although I did of course watch the game. What an emotional whirligig this team places us upon!
The first half, was, if we're being kind, fucking embarrassing. The decision to protect Fabinho from another booking by replacing him with Adam Fucking Lallana in the holding role was comically ill-advised. And yeah, I read all the articles about re-training and Busquets, but I also saw him play against Arsenal, and he was shit then too. It's also only fair to say we improved in the second 45, and the relentless attacking (well, it was basically "pass to one of our wing-backs when we get the ball") was proper "never say die" stuff. Three points that we didn't maybe deserve, but we did what teams who win titles do: find a way.
Alisson (6) Can anyone remember when we used to keep clean sheets? He could maybe have done better with the shot that went through him for the goal, but he was impressively speedy off his line to bail out Henderson and wasn't too busy after that.
TAA (8) Just....quality. His passing, movement, awareness and crossing was at a very high level, and he saw an incredible amount of the ball. In fact, he seemed to be our only actual plan. The only criticism is that for a lad with such special technique, he should be scoring more goals. Our best player by a distance.
Virgil (6) It's possible that his ethereal displays last season were the absolute peak, because he's not been at those levels as often so far this season. He was caught out a few times in the first half, and almost looked cumbersome once - imagine! - but he got better as the game went on, and bailed us out on more than one occasion too, so he gets a nice, solid 6, which is an 8 for normal players like.
Lovren (6) That big Grock up front for Villa was the proverbial "handful" and there was one or two moments early on that made you suspect he was going to give Dejan "Second best defender in the world" Lovren a going over, but then Lovren decided that actually no, that wasn't going to happen, and just won almost everything in the air and reasserted some control.
Robertson (8) Extra point for the vital goal, and how he deserved one. Like his mate on the right, he seemed to be Liverpool's Plan A, B and C. He refused to yield an inch in attack or defence and was a Glaswegian whirlwind, full of grit, industry and quality.
Lallana (4) Fucking Busquets? Really? He played more like a Bouquet Garni, a useless bundle of fucking twigs that you drop into a stew and then fish out at the end. Did nobody fucking watch him against Arsenal? Well, he did the same thing here, losing the ball in dangerous places and showing precisely NONE of the physical qualities that I like in a holding player. I know that cunts say "well, what about Jorginho?" or some other slow, weak bellend, but they're the sort of cunts who wish Lucas was still playing for us. Fucked up an easy chance too, typically.
Wijnaldum (3) It's telling how lots of people have started banging on about how vital he is, just when he's actually being totally shit. He's not been anywhere near good enough. This was the quintessential Invisible Shithouse Ghost display. He played it so safe it looked like he was scared the ball was Waterford crystal and might fucking break if he did anything with it. Even worse than Lallana, who at least tried to pass forwards and affect the outcome of the game. Truly Abysmal.
Henderson (5) At times in the first half he looked like a prop from an abandoned Gerry Anderson SuperMarionation show about footballers - Captain Scarlet? - hopping about the pitch spastically while his strings were pulled in separate directions. It was really, really dreadful. But, as he often seems to, he just grinds his way from awfulness into something resembling a decent display. Not great, no, but he tried; he was involved; he just ploughed on, unlike the ISG. So credit for that. I suppose.
Salah (4) When it doesn't happen, sometimes it really doesn't. Almost nothing went right for Mo; shots battered over or wide; dribbles that just....dribbled; passes askew. It was almost a relief when he was subbed.
Firmino (5) Another one whose excellence seems to be unquestioned, despite being behind the likes of Wesley, Chris Wood, Danny Ings, Jordan Ayew and Neil Maupay in the scoring charts. OK, OK "he's not there for his goals" (phew, cos he doesn't score many: fucking THREE and it's November!) and he was also robbed by Armpit VAR, but other than that he just didn't do enough; slack, sloppy passing, laboured movement and just totally average.
Mane (8) The only player (fullbacks aside) to show any real attacking quality or threat. Booked for a theatrical dive, he refused to let that bother him, and carried on tormenting an increasingly nervy Villa defence, before heading in that last-gasp and beautiful winner. Boss.
Subs:
Origi (5) Did some running and that. Had a shot.
Chamberlain (6) Added a bit of forward momentum. He's not exactly the brainiest footballer ever, but what he does do is threaten, and he had about 4 shots in the space of five minutes. Good impact sub.
Keita (n/a) Who cares
The first half, was, if we're being kind, fucking embarrassing. The decision to protect Fabinho from another booking by replacing him with Adam Fucking Lallana in the holding role was comically ill-advised. And yeah, I read all the articles about re-training and Busquets, but I also saw him play against Arsenal, and he was shit then too. It's also only fair to say we improved in the second 45, and the relentless attacking (well, it was basically "pass to one of our wing-backs when we get the ball") was proper "never say die" stuff. Three points that we didn't maybe deserve, but we did what teams who win titles do: find a way.
Alisson (6) Can anyone remember when we used to keep clean sheets? He could maybe have done better with the shot that went through him for the goal, but he was impressively speedy off his line to bail out Henderson and wasn't too busy after that.
TAA (8) Just....quality. His passing, movement, awareness and crossing was at a very high level, and he saw an incredible amount of the ball. In fact, he seemed to be our only actual plan. The only criticism is that for a lad with such special technique, he should be scoring more goals. Our best player by a distance.
Virgil (6) It's possible that his ethereal displays last season were the absolute peak, because he's not been at those levels as often so far this season. He was caught out a few times in the first half, and almost looked cumbersome once - imagine! - but he got better as the game went on, and bailed us out on more than one occasion too, so he gets a nice, solid 6, which is an 8 for normal players like.
Lovren (6) That big Grock up front for Villa was the proverbial "handful" and there was one or two moments early on that made you suspect he was going to give Dejan "Second best defender in the world" Lovren a going over, but then Lovren decided that actually no, that wasn't going to happen, and just won almost everything in the air and reasserted some control.
Robertson (8) Extra point for the vital goal, and how he deserved one. Like his mate on the right, he seemed to be Liverpool's Plan A, B and C. He refused to yield an inch in attack or defence and was a Glaswegian whirlwind, full of grit, industry and quality.
Lallana (4) Fucking Busquets? Really? He played more like a Bouquet Garni, a useless bundle of fucking twigs that you drop into a stew and then fish out at the end. Did nobody fucking watch him against Arsenal? Well, he did the same thing here, losing the ball in dangerous places and showing precisely NONE of the physical qualities that I like in a holding player. I know that cunts say "well, what about Jorginho?" or some other slow, weak bellend, but they're the sort of cunts who wish Lucas was still playing for us. Fucked up an easy chance too, typically.
Wijnaldum (3) It's telling how lots of people have started banging on about how vital he is, just when he's actually being totally shit. He's not been anywhere near good enough. This was the quintessential Invisible Shithouse Ghost display. He played it so safe it looked like he was scared the ball was Waterford crystal and might fucking break if he did anything with it. Even worse than Lallana, who at least tried to pass forwards and affect the outcome of the game. Truly Abysmal.
Henderson (5) At times in the first half he looked like a prop from an abandoned Gerry Anderson SuperMarionation show about footballers - Captain Scarlet? - hopping about the pitch spastically while his strings were pulled in separate directions. It was really, really dreadful. But, as he often seems to, he just grinds his way from awfulness into something resembling a decent display. Not great, no, but he tried; he was involved; he just ploughed on, unlike the ISG. So credit for that. I suppose.
Salah (4) When it doesn't happen, sometimes it really doesn't. Almost nothing went right for Mo; shots battered over or wide; dribbles that just....dribbled; passes askew. It was almost a relief when he was subbed.
Firmino (5) Another one whose excellence seems to be unquestioned, despite being behind the likes of Wesley, Chris Wood, Danny Ings, Jordan Ayew and Neil Maupay in the scoring charts. OK, OK "he's not there for his goals" (phew, cos he doesn't score many: fucking THREE and it's November!) and he was also robbed by Armpit VAR, but other than that he just didn't do enough; slack, sloppy passing, laboured movement and just totally average.
Mane (8) The only player (fullbacks aside) to show any real attacking quality or threat. Booked for a theatrical dive, he refused to let that bother him, and carried on tormenting an increasingly nervy Villa defence, before heading in that last-gasp and beautiful winner. Boss.
Subs:
Origi (5) Did some running and that. Had a shot.
Chamberlain (6) Added a bit of forward momentum. He's not exactly the brainiest footballer ever, but what he does do is threaten, and he had about 4 shots in the space of five minutes. Good impact sub.
Keita (n/a) Who cares
Last edited:
