Liverpool vs Salzburg Player Ratings by Stephen Ward and Jason Kennedy

Woody – Phew.  That got a little wilder than necessary.  Salzburg is good, at least going forward.  They’re a bit USMT at the back.  No wonder these guys are owned by Red Bull.  They seem to have it flowing in the dressing room like greenies in 1980’s Busch Stadium.  Anyway here we go.

Jason – Thought once we were up 3-0 we’d score 3 more. Alas, I must have been channeling RB Salzburg… A fun game for the neutral I guess…

Adrian – 6.75

Woody – 6.5 – Alisson says he’s ready to go.  They’ll probably keep him out until MUFC after the break.  But it is tempting to get him back in for Leicester.  Coaches, staff, and teammates love Adrian but he was free for a reason.  They loved Moreno too.

Jason – 7 – I thought he was decent. Not sure that he could have done much with the shots/goals.

TAA – 8

W – 8 – Not only did he pick out Robbo, but he dimed it onto his left foot to avoid all sorts of embarrassment.  Well done.  Should have had another assist on the corner to Mane.

J – 8 – Amazing assist to Robbo for the goal and we should have had a “Corner Taken Quickly Mane!” moment. A tad shaky on defense at times.

Gomez – 6.5

W – 7 – Early last year he was on the same wavelength with VVD all the time.  Now it’s Matip who has that synergy.  Joe and Virgil seem a little off together.  Having watched a lot of the Country Music doc, I know things can be all George Jones/ Tammy Wynette in good and bad directions.  Let’s hope they get their magic back soon. 

J – 6 – Shaky shaky shaky. Better than mid-week. That said, the second goal was on him.

VVD – 6.5

W – 7- He was not his usual Rolls Royce self.  Fortunately his absolute floor is about a Range Rover.  Speaking of brands, do they still make underwear called BVDs?  Virgil should buy them, change one letter, and quadruple the sales.

J – 6 – Think he was watching some outtakes of Degsey in preparation for this match

Robbo – 8

W – 8 – On the scoresheet!  Finally!  He’ll be hungry for goals now like he is for a good potato scone.  And as he himself would say, long may it continue.

J – 8 – Robbo scores! On an assist from TAA. That was a lovely goal. The whole thing. Was pretty solid in defense as well.

Fabinho – 6.75

W – 7.5 – Our best mid, as is usually the case these days.  That said, we really shouldn’t ever give up 3 straight goals at Anfield with both Fab and VVD in the lineup.  He looked good, but was he?  How did this game go so pear shaped for a while?

J – 6 – Did not think Fab was on his game. Might have been caught up in the shambles of our CBs on the day.

Hendo – 6.75

W – 7- Great ball to Trent in buildup to the Robertson goal.  Otherwise he wasn’t quite on his game.

J – 6.5 – Mixed bag as was most of the midfield.

Gini – 6.75

W – 7 – The interchangeables (Hendo, Gini, Milner) might be rotating one spot in big games soon.  Our man Naby is back!

J – 6.5 – Anonymous

Salah – 8.75 Man of the Match

W – 9 – Early on the thought was: Mo looks great but he absolutely has to get his shooting boots back.  Soon!  And then he did.  Egyptian King.

J – 8.5 – Was very good throughout. We needed a spark and he provided it.

Firmino – 8.25

W – 8 – He went stretches without that much influence but he still does an awful lot every game.  He gets a Si Senor boot in there to win the ball back so often.  And the flicked header to Mo?  Pure class.

J – 8.5 – Thought Bobby was very good. Work rate and ability to transition back/forth was standard Bobby.

Mane – 8

W – 8 – He was more like 8.5/9 most of the game, popping up absolutely everywhere on the pitch.  Helping win balls back, making his amazing runs.  If you just hammer the ball down the field chances are he runs onto it and pads your key pass numbers.   Sadly we have to ding him just a bit for missing that low header.  That was a freebie and could have iced it.

J – 8 – Goal was lovely. Seemed much livelier than mid-week.

Subs

Milner and Origi – 7.5

W – 7 – Good things happen when Divock strides on and Milner was more of a calming influence than he has been of late.  Good double sub move by Klopp.

J – 8 – I really really liked this sub and formation shift. Salzburg coming after us? Defense looks shaky? Screw it, we will go for an even more offensive set-up and let Big Div join Salah-Mane-Bobby up top. Milly, you help Fab out would ya?

Naby – 9

W – Ok he was a late N/A.  But boy was it great to see him back!

J – Wonderful cameo

Let’s tighten things up a bit and not let Jamie Vardy have a Party.