Welcome to my blog! I'll be here after every Liverpool game this season, giving my thoughts and views on the game, my player ratings, and probably the occasional rant. Feel free to comment, share, or get involved via social media. You'll find me on Twitter as @MNunny91. All abuse and opinion is welcomed.
'Lallana, Origi, Shaqiri. Haha. Good one Jurgen. I know it's only Everton, but come on seriously, stop having me on and show me the real lineup.'
This was me an hour before kick off. The size of Jurgens cojones to pick that team for a Merseyside Derby! Outrageous disrespect. Perhaps he knew quite how bad Everton actually are. However large the chasm is between ourselves and the blue half of Merseyside, this is still a game where the majority of Anfield expect a proper dog fight and an almighty scrap. What transpired was scarcely believable. I have never seen a professional football team be caught out by a long, straight ball that many times in 90 minutes before, and I've watched a lot of football. That being said, these red reserves were absolutely scintillating in that first half. The quality of the goals, the pace of our play, the sheer ruthlessness in front of goal and the desire to prove those pre match doubters wrong. What a team. Hats off to the manager tonight, that was one hell of a risk for him to take, with everything to lose and not that much to gain. If this had been the game that we'd tripped up, the knives would have been out, but he has so much trust in this squad of players, none of us should ever doubt a decision he makes. We've just smashed 5 past the not so noisy neighbours and some of the main men got a night off to rest their legs. The stuff of dreams.
Where do I even start with that crazy game? The first goal. The pass from Mane is just obscene. A total liberty. Wrong foot, eye of the needle, perfect weight, if there's a better pass than that for the rest of the season I will be stunned. Utter perfection, and a gorgeous finish from Mr Merseyside Derby himself, Divock Origi. He just loves playing the blue shite. Nothing will ever quite beat the memory of the 96th minute winner in front of the Kop last season, but this performance was up there with his most complete in a Liverpool shirt. Then there is Mr Shaqiri, who ran on to another glorious Sadio pass to make it 2-0. I'll be honest, I had written him off as a Liverpool player. He's barely played since his heroics against the Mancs last season, for one reason or another, and I know I certainly wasn't alone in believing his Anfield days were well and truly numbered. Tonight he gave us all a reminder of what a high quality operator he is, and who knows, this could rejuvenate him. A flying Shaqiri in the second half of this season could be a bonus that none of us expected. I'll touch more on our defense later on, but let's focus on the positive first. I didn't believe Origi was capable of scoring his second goal. What a first touch and finish that is, just absolutely sensational. If Messi does that, we'd be talking about it for weeks. Mane then rounds off one of the best individual 45 minutes of football I have ever witnessed with a goal of his own, courtesy of another rapid counter attack and more shambolic Everton defending. Mane is the best player in the league. There can be absolutely no doubting that anymore. His creative side sometimes goes under the radar when we talk about his strengths, but the assists for the opening goals tonight were breathtaking, and his all round performance bordering on unplayable.
Now the negatives. We look a shambles at the back right now. It feels ridiculous to type that, as we have won 14 out of 15 league games and sit 8 points clear at the top of the Premier league, but the standards we set last season are currently a distant memory. We are far too easy to score against and it needs to be sorted. Trent, for all his wonderful attacking play and catalogue of cross field passes, was horribly out of position numerous times tonight and we won't keep getting away with it. Dejan Lovren has filled in well for Matip on the whole, but it cannot be ignored that the defense is far more suceptibal to errors with him in it. Van Dijk cannot do it alone. The loss of Fabinho is going to create more pressure on the back line as we have lost our shield, nobody else in the squad can do the job that Fabinho does. Collectively, we need to tighten up and be more solid. If that negatively impacts our attacking play, so be it. Let's get back to keeping clean sheets, scoring goals will take care of itself with the individuals we have in the team. Creativity is never going to be an issue when you have Mane, Salah and Firmino.
As good as we were at times going forwards, Everton were absolutely rancid at the back. With the run of fixtures they have, I would not be surprised to see them in the bottom 3 when the calendar reads 2020. Marco Silva will be gone by the weekend, I see absolutely no way he can survive his team conceding 5 goals against their arch rivals with the pressure he was already under. I was expecting a battle, a real fight, possibly nicking it by a goal or two. To come to Anfield and be as open as that, as easy to play against as they were, was unforgivable. Lord only knows how much of a bloodbath it might have been had the likes of Salah and Firmino been playing. I touched on it earlier, but there was 5 instances of one long ball leading to a clear run on goal, I have never seen that before on a Sunday morning, let alone a Premier league football match. Another side note, I thoroughly enjoyed the coverage on Amazon prime. Give me Ally McCoist over the odious fossil that is Martin Tyler every day of the week.
Tonight was big. A Derby is always big of course, but after seeing City brush Burnley aside last night, this was the perfect response. And we have the added bonus of saving some legs for the frankly ridiculous run of games coming up over December. Next up is Bournemouth away, which is another potential banana skin. I'll be interested to see if Mane might be left out of that one, it seems logical after this evening but I can't help but feel like it would be similar to taking the engine out of your car with how he's playing. That's all in the future, let's enjoy tonight first. Enjoy being 8 points clear, enjoy being 11 clear of City, and enjoy Everton still being absolutely dire. See you at the Vitality on Saturday afternoon, as always, up the Reds!
Ratings
Adrian - Solid, probably the best backup keeper around at the moment. Loved him knocking a ball over Calvert Lewin's head with the outside of his foot. Piss take. Didn't have much to do other than pick the ball out of his net twice, no fault of his own. 6.
Trent - Another diagonal for the scrap book in the buildup for Shaq's goal, another assist to his name, the best attacking full back in world football. However, he is taking the piss at times with his positioning. Who cares until it costs us, I suppose. 7.
Dejan - Ball for Divocks second was glorious, made to look even better by Everton lining up their back 5 on the edge of our 18 yard box. Was a little bit Lovren like at times defensively. I miss Matip. 6.
VVD - Was spraying diagonals around and barely breaking sweat at times, but isn't defending as well as he can. Thought he was fortunate to get away with the tackle on Calvert-Lewin. Must be fuming with the lack of clean sheets. 6.
Robbo - More solid than spectacular tonight. Highlight was laughing in Tom 'the tramp' Davies face. He's turned into the master of shithousery in recent weeks, which has made me love him even more. 6.
Milner - Solid. A calming presence among the madness. Mr dependable. Covers a ridiculous amount of ground still, give him a new contract. 7.
Lallana - At times he was brilliant, running around like a lunatic and making things happen. Gave it away a couple of times in bad areas. Not convinced he's still up to it, but Klopp is a big fan, clearly. Had 10 yards of space in Evertons box at one stage and decided to do a weird, Cruyff turn/lay off thing. Absolute headcase. 7.
Wijanldum - Quality tonight. Absolutely everywhere. Passes it well, wins it back, gets around the pitch as well as anyone, and scores a goal. I maybe underrate him at times. Very good footballer. 8.
Shaqiri - Outstanding. Lovely to see him and his glorious calf muscles back. Tremendous movement for his goal. Overall play was so sharp, looked like a man with a point to prove. Could be a real weapon with Salah off the pace. 8.
Origi - The best player to ever play the game. Erect a fucking statue. Name a stand after him. Give him whatever he wants. Hates the Ev since that Argie tried to cripple him. What a bloke, give him the key to the city. 9.
Mane - I was convinced I'd be handing out my first 10/10 after his first half performance, which was bordering on ridiculous. As good as I've ever seen. If he scores the 2 sitters second half, I'd have given him an 11. What a player. Best in the world right now? 9 MOM.
Subs
Hendo - Came on and started threading through balls like a prime Gerrard. 7.
Firmino - The skill for the 5th is a joke to be honest. Sent Holgate for tomorrow paper. Piss taker. 7.
Gomez - Glad his eye is better. Looks to have healed nicely. Savlon works a treat. N/A.
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