Reds lose 3-0 at Old Trafford to bitter rivals…
Here’s how we rated the Liverpool players following the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford…
GK) Brad Jones – 5.5/10
Didn’t have a huge number of saves to make on his call-up to the starting XI, but hardly inspired us with confidence with the goalkeeping displayed on the three he conceded. On the first, he dived in the completely wrong direction, and on the last, he was horribly out of position.
DR) Glen Johnson – n/a (Replaced by Toure, 26′)
Injured, and didn’t have much of an impact when he was on the field.
DC) Martin Skrtel – 6/10
One half of a pretty ropey centre-back partnership, but individually, he didn’t do too much wrong… Passed the ball relatively well from defence, and won most of his headers.
DC) Dejan Lovren – 5/10
The Croat endured another poor afternoon. His clearance that led to United’s third goal was simply not good enough, and was symbolic of his entire season.
DL) Alberto Moreno – 6.5/10 (Replaced by Markovic, 68′)
Often got himself out of bother thanks to his excellent pace which made it look like he was making key tackles, but this shouldn’t detract from the fact that positionally, he was defensively poor.
MC) Joe Allen – 4/10
Totally bullied by Marouane Fellaini in central midfield. The Welshman offered little creatively, and was playing so poorly at one point that he began to trend worldwide on Twitter, and not for the right reasons… Emre Can deserves a chance in the team at Allen’s expense.
MC) Jordan Henderson – 5/10
Missed a huge chance with a header, which could have helped us get back in the game. He was actually used as a right wing-back for much of the 90 minutes, and his regular positional changes are clearly not helping him. Worked hard, as he always does – but it was sadly to no avail.
MC) Steven Gerrard – 5/10
Very quiet match from the skipper. He was mocked all afternoon by the Old Trafford crowd, and he didn’t take the game by the scruff of the neck as he has so many times previously against United. Sprayed a few nice passes, but was predominantly behind the pace of the game, and failed to tick us over in the middle.
AMRL) Adam Lallana – 6/10 (Replaced by Balotelli, 45′)
Actually looked pretty bright in the first half, early on especially. Was unlucky to be subbed off, considering the fact he played a part in one of the brightest starts we’ve made to a match this season.
AMRL) Coutinho – 6/10
Lost Wayne Rooney for the opening goal, which is unforgivable in a derby match where every player needs to contribute defensively. With the ball at his feet though, he’s magic – although his passes were occasionally over hit which led to us frustratingly handing over possession. Bar his defensive mistake, he was mostly positive.
AMRL) Raheem Sterling – 7/10
Sterling was very good, until it came to putting the ball in the back of the bet. He missed three guilt edged one-on-one chances versus David de Gea, but it’s important to congratulate the Spaniard for a truly world-class goalkeeping performance. Sterling proved with his pace and movement that once he develops his finishing, he could score goals for fun.
(Subs on next page)
Subs:
Kolo Toure – 7/10
Again, didn’t put a foot wrong. The Ivorian deservedly won our November Player of the Month award, and he should perhaps be starting as a regular, whether it’s at centre-back or right-back.
Mario Balotelli – 6/10
The Italian mainly hovered on the left, but got himself into two superb positions where he could, and perhaps should have scored. De Gea saved both efforts, however, and Balotelli has yet to score in the Premier League in a red shirt. His performance was decent though, and he should be in the starting XI for our next game.
Lazar Markovic – n/a
Didn’t do much during his 20 minute cameo, but produced a beautiful pass to set up Balotelli late on.
