The five BEST things about Liverpool’s trouncing of Manchester City

SEE MORE:
(Vines) Six epic Jurgen Klopp Liverpool celebrations!
(Video) Coutinho’s individual highlights v Man. City are a thing of joy

The Coutinho/Firmino partnership…

The Brazilians linked up like they’ve been playing together forever. They were on a creative level above everybody else on the field, actually. Coutinho and Firmino (CAF…? Nah.. sounds awful) were both involved in three goals in the first half an hour, but could have contributed a bucketload more. Coutinho was mesmeric and if Firmino was slightly more clinical he’d have scored a hat-trick at least. The one-twos, neat flicks and no-look passes were a thing of beauty, without exaggerating. Whatever position they’re asked to play in, the key is to get these two as close to each other as possible in the final third. Magic happens.

Dejan Lovren proved he can fill in for Mamadou Sakho…

The Croat takes a pummelling from us when he’s poor, so he deserves a pat on the back when he isn’t. Skrtel was exceptional yesterday, but Lovren was good alongside him as well. There were no blunders and he stayed on his feet more than usual, but importantly, looked confident – which he rarely has in a red shirt. Mamadou Sakho has been our best defender by a country mile this season, but in his absence through injury, Lovren has a chance to resurrect his Liverpool career. Saturday was an excellent start.

The entire squad is unified, together and motivated… 

Did you see the players celebrate every goal? Did you see them after the match? It’s so, so good that they’re so clearly all fighting for the same cause. And this is entirely down to Jurgen Klopp. We wish he could motivate us at the start of every morning! Adam Lallana summed it up perfectly after the match, in fact:

“The feeling Klopp gives to the players… you want to run for him,” he said.

“You want to die for him and the lads on the pitch.” (via Metro)

Following Martin Skrtel’s volley every single player manically celebrated together. Klopp hugged every player individually as they came off. The bench, including a fit again Daniel Sturridge, smiled incessantly.

The attacking options now at Liverpool’s disposal…

Ever since Luis Suarez left for Barcelona, we’ve been crying out for more potent offensive options. Now all of a sudden, a fit Christian Benteke and a fit Daniel Sturridge will do well to even get in the side! Roberto Firmino’s finishing was poor yesterday, but his overall performance was so impressive that Jurgen Klopp will definitely consider starting him up top, with a hopefully healthy Coutinho behind, in our next match. And with the German only ever using one centre-forward, we’ve got an array of possibilities, combinations or styles we can produce with Firmino, Benteke and Sturridge all more than capable of starting up front alone.

Klopp wasn’t even satisfied…

Reds… There’s more to come. Instead of lavishing his players with praise, the manager said he was merely satisfied with the performance Liverpool gave him on Saturday. We beat Manchester City, the most expensive top flight side ever assembled, 4-1 on their own patch, yet Klopp thinks it’s just the beginning.

“I’m really satisfied. But was it the best? I’m not too sure. It was good, but not perfect. We can defend better,” he said after the match.

If what we see yesterday isn’t what he wants from Liverpool, then we really cannot wait until he gets it clicking thoroughly!