... because many of the points will probably go against the grain of most people's reaction to this game. I'll just leave this here as my opinion without intending to get into a big discussion about it. If you disagree, fine.
- Sakho had a good game. I don't see how people can blame him for any of the goals – the 2nd one had nothing to do with him, and the first and 3rd were similar in that he happened to be the closest player to Mane, but was in no position to win the ball or block the shot, because everything happened too quickly: we lose the ball – pass to Mane – boom, goal. Put Pique or Thiago Silva in his place and they would not be able to prevent the goal either. Meanwhile throughout the game Sakho was nearly as dominant as in the United game, with plenty of crucial headers, tackles and interceptions. I'm tired of the anti-Sakho brigade using every slightest opportunity to jump on his back.
- Skrtel's performance was NOT "career-ending." As a smart manager, I'm sure Klopp will rightly place the blame on himself for subbing in a rusty player in a game that was not really won yet. I have plenty of criticisms of Skrtel's game in general (for instance I think he could have given away that penalty even in the best of form, that's just the way he plays), but you can't judge him by this performance any more than you can judge Sakho by the horror-show he produced on his come-back from a long-term injury or Hendo's or Sturridge's insipid performances of late. He was far from his best and we got punished; in hindsight Klopp should have picked Toure. Oh, and Lovren was all over the place too.
- Allen did not do himself any favors. Many people selected him as one of their top 3 – for me this game just confirmed the problem I've always had with Allen. He looks good when the team plays well, but he doesn't have the quality or the character to lift his team when things are going wrong and this game was the perfect illustration. We need winners, not passengers – especially in a position as influential as a midfield playmaker. He can be an impact player, but not a starter for LFC.
- Lallana was in inspirational form. This was probably the best I've seen him play for Liverpool, he was just all over the place (in a good sense), from winning the ball to set up Coutinho's first to playing a perfectly-timed (not always the case with Lallana) pass for Benteke. His big weakness of not having the upper body strength to hold up the ball with was still there, but in this game he was almost always able to do something with the ball before any defender could touch him.
- Firmino was no big miss and Origi and Sturridge need to play together more often. I said it before, I don't see much evidence of any positive chemistry between Firmino and Sturridge. So far, they seem to like to occupy the same spaces, make the same passes and runs and just get in each other's way. On the contrary, Origi and Sturridge's games complement each other quite well. They lit up Saints for 6 goals last time they played together and yesterday Klopp could be forgiven for leaving 2 strikers on the pitch, because we looked like we could score in every attack. As for Firmino and Sturridge, maybe with time and coaching they will understand how to play with each other as they are both intelligent players, but for now I actually think Origi-Firmino or Origi-Sturridge pairings are more threatening than Sturridge-Firmino.
- Let's not forget everything good about this performance because of a few mistakes at the back (and clinical finishing by Mane, who must wish he could play us every week). Ming saved a penalty, Flanno was positive in attack and of course congrats on captaining LFC (although I was thinking "WTF" when I saw him wearing the armband), Clyne bounced back from his bad performance, Can was as good as ever, counter-attacks started resembling Dortmund for the first time this season. I gave up any hope of top-4 long time ago, so I feel quite relaxed about a crazy game that gives our manager some food for thought – and even though we we on the wrong end of the result, it was a highly enjoyable and thrilling game of football. Isn't that the whole point?
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