Liverpool vs Napoli Player Ratings by Stephen Ward and Jason Kennedy
For the most part, it was a great game. Exhausting to watch. Terrible ending and result. We go again Sunday.
Adrian – 9 Man of the Match
Woody – 9 – The save off the first one was really good. The one in the 2nd half from Mertens was Alisson level world class. Wow. We were sure to get at least a point after that one the way we were playing, right? Right? Hopefully He’s now full of confidence going to Chelsea.
Jason – 9 – “passed the Champions League audition” seems to be the praise from folks and I’d agree. Just missed saving the penalty and that second goal was brutal.
Trent – 7.75
W – 8 – He had a couple of giveaways and no magical assists. However, he kept Insigne quiet to the point he was subbed off. That’s no easy feat. He also turned sweeper several times and bailed out the centre backs after they’d let a ball in over them.
J – 7.5 – Solid throughout the match.
Matip – 7
W – 7 – Gave away a few on errant long passes early. Got looped once or twice. Then he settled in and was really solid most of the game. But he got adventurous in their third late and started a counter the other way.
J – 7 – Not his best effort as of late. Wonder how Degsey is these days…. Oh and JoGo too…
VVD – 7.25
W – 7.5 – We had some shaky moments, as expected vs those swarming gnats on their counter. Virgil took control of a lot of those, but not all of them. And he gets a smidge of blame for the 2nd goal. Most of that blame goes to…
J – 7 – unlike Woody I think VVD was a tad more responsible for the 2nd goal than Robbo. Let’s just say this was all still best than 2013/14…
Robertson – 6.625
W – 6.5 – He had an off night. The penalty was very soft, but he did give the ref that option. He stopped chasing the ball on the 2nd. It wasn’t a lack of effort, just a misread. But he needed to take charge and get there ahead of Llorente. Rarely has a bad game let alone two in a row. He’ll need to be good because Chelsea have lots of speedy little swarming attackers too. Lots of Scottish scones this week, maybe even a curry. Full Scottish steel is needed
J – 6.75 – With no apologies to Stu Holden, the penalty was sort of crap wasn’t it? Like crappy crap. VAR also crap. Robbo needs to be firing on all cylinders. Perhaps a hat trick for him at The Bridge this weekend?
Fabinho – 7.75
W – 7.5 – He had a bunch of good tackles but his passing was a bit off.
J – 8 – thought he was really one of the brighter players for us.
Hendo – 7.625
W – 7.5 – He had a bunch of bad passes but some really good ones, including the one to almost set up Sadio. As always he covered a lot of ground. You often see Firmino and Hendo trapping together – that alone should tell you that he’s in good positions.
J – 7.75 – Because doing the .625 is now a thing. Hendo was solid for me. Nice ball to Sadio. Ran all over as per norm.
Milner – 7
W – 7 – Could Milner and Robbo have been out on the lash in Naples? Was Maradona behind this? I mean if you had a chance to go out in Naples with Maradona you’d have to take it. It seemed like the plan was to start Milner on the left to help Robbo so Robbo could get at them. Sometimes a good plan doesn’t work that well. Neither was great and it kind of fed itself.
J – 7 – Milly is always solid. Got a yellow. Complained to the Ref a lot which was deserved. Ran and ran and ran.
Salah – 7
W – 7 – He ran all night, got onto the end of balls but usually too far from goal and without much help. In the buildup he was good but not Kinglike. Smashed that ball toward the corner but the keeper knocked it aside and with it, a point off Mo’s rating.
J – 7 – Was a little off to me. Three season wonder.
Firmino – 7
W – 7 – After Newcastle, we expect every ball that hits those pink shoes to end up on the boot of a streaking teammate in stride. He was good but those moments weren’t quite happening.
W – 7 – the no look header was so close… alas…
Mane – 7.5
W – 8 – Other than the one great Mo hit that was saved, Mane always looked our most likely to score. He didn’t have the angle on one, couldn’t quite reach another, needed a foot more of space in the box, etc. But when he plays like tonight he’ll usually score. What was with Koulibaly smacking him in the face and getting away with it? Aren’t those guys Senegal teammates? Foul, dude.
J – 7 – the front three for me are a collective Blackjack score this week.
Subs
Gini – 7
W – 7 – He played pretty well but as a sub you have to impact the game to beat a 7.
J – 7 – sure why not.
Shaq – N/A
W – N/A/ – As it turned out maybe we should have seen him earlier. But that didn’t make sense at the time because we were pretty dominant most of the 2nd half and looked the more likely to score.
J – N/A – I am with Woody here. Maybe come on 10-15 mins earlier…?
Tough result. Tough group (holy Mozart, Salzburg). Let’s win Sunday at Chelsea.