It was an interesting afternoon of football as Liverpool’s so called second string, plus new signings Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino, scored a 2-1 victory over Swindon Town in our final pre-season friendly of the year.
Brendan Rodgers will certainly have plenty to think about after back-to-back victories this weekend, with several places for the Stoke City game next weekend potentially still up for grabs in training over the coming days.
SEE MORE:
Liverpool player ratings vs Swindon Town – Christian Benteke scores on debut
Trent Alexander-Arnold profile – 16-year-old defender starts for Liverpool today
Brazilian football expert reveals what Allan will bring to Liverpool
Here are five things we learned from the game:
5) ‘Friendly’ doesn’t always mean friendly
Ninety seconds. That’s how long it took Lawrence Vigouroux – a player contracted to Liverpool and only on trial at Swindon today ahead of a possible loan move – to crumple our new signing, Roberto Firmino. Thankfully the Brazilian hauled himself to his feet and was able to continue. Nonetheless, a scary moment for all concerned. Both Joe Allen and Pedro Chirivella did limp off with injuries off during the ninety minutes, with the former likely to prove hugely frustrating for Brendan Rodgers ahead of the new season.
4) Emre Can needs to play in midfield
The German was excellent today, albeit against weaker opposition. He was dynamic, strong and powerful. His marauding runs forward were reminiscent of a young Steven Gerrard. He’s everything we’ve been missing over recent years and if he’s given the time to develop into his favoured role over the next twelve months, rather than being played in defence, then he could have an incredible bright future ahead of him. He surely has to start alongside Jordan Henderson and James Milner at the Britannia Stadium.
3) Christian Benteke is more than a target man
Who said that? Certainly not us, we’d never criticise the wisdom of Brendan Rodgers’ signings… In all seriousness, these were encouraging signs from the big Belgian today, especially considering this was his first pre-season match with his new teammates. He was a little wasteful in the first-half and might have done slightly better with a couple of chances that did come his way. However, he made no mistake at the start of the second-half, controlling the ball on his chest before lashing the ball beautifully into the top corner – a more than decent start.
2) The academy players deserve their chance
For anyone a little underwhelmed with their impact in the previous games, today was a lesson as to what our brilliant academy players are capable of producing. Ryan Kent was outstanding, putting himself everywhere as he strived to show Brendan Rodgers what he is capable of. Sheyi Ojo scored the winning goal, although he did have a huge helping hand from an unlucky Vigouroux, and Joao Carlos Teixeira looked very much at home after coming on for Allen in the early stages. A big well done to 16-year-old full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as well.
1) Selection issues have become clearer
Today’s game will have cleared up a couple of issues in Brendan Rodgers’ head, namely that Roberto Firmino and Lazar Markovic are unlikely to be in his starting eleven against Stoke. The Brazilian played well but needs more time, having returned to training late from the Copa America, while the Serbian had another bad day at the office. With Adam Lallana and Jordon Ibe having played so well in the other games, it will be hard to look past them at this stage. Joe Gomez will also be feeling very confident about bagging the left-back spot as well.
