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Brighton post-match

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rurikbird

Part of the Furniture
Honorary Member
Top of the league, baby! (at least for now)

Brighton defended superbly, it has to be said. Full concentration for 90 minutes and beaten only by a clinical strike from Salah off GK's fingertips and the post. So many half chances could have become big chances, but there was a Brighton foot or head in the way every time. They held us close for 70 minutes and then went for it in the last 20, really putting us under pressure in the way neither West Ham nor Palace were able to do – it almost worked if not for a bit of good fortune for us (the Knokaert miss, ball bouncing off a few Brighton players after a corner) and a good save by Alisson. Our defending was not perfect, but in the end our backline was resilient enough to withstand a period of sustained pressure – something we could rarely count on in the past.

I won't do ratings, but some short observations on individuals:
Alisson – cocky and confident, but almost got punished in a couple of situations today. Saved us 2 points late on.
Trent – still not quite on form
Gomez – superb. I'm starting to believe.
VVD – a few small errors
Robbo – excellent once again, love his willingness to cut inside a la Mendy at City. Once he even exchanged passes with Trent inside Brighton's penalty area!
Gini – when a few other players faded towards the end his energy seemed to only increase. Played at the #6 competently, then showed a different side of his game at #8. Had a few shots blocked and some of his passes deserved a better finish (like Salah's shot over the bar late on).
Milner – many people suggested dropping him after a somewhat quiet performance at Palace, but he was superb and essential to everything we did in attack and defense once again. His tackle created the goal, so that should just about make him MOM ahead of a few other worthy candidates.
Keita – once again showed glimpses of quality in the first half, but faded rapidly and was rightly subbed. I wonder how long it will take him to get to the point where he can sustain his best level for 90 minutes.
Firmino – played on the right and then on the left wing to free up Salah from defensive work, unlucky not to score early on and overall I thought he played quite well.
Mane – was rather anonymous, which was disappointing after how good he's been in the first 2 games.
Salah – played mostly through the middle until Sturridge came on. This was the first time this season he was influential in the build-up of our attacks and not just in the finishing phase. Still a few uncharacteristic misses, but the goal was a clinical as they come and proved to be the match-winner.
Henderson – once again a superb cameo. I don't think we would have preserved a clean sheet without him, he gave us exactly what was needed: superb covering of the ground and crisp passing.
Sturridge – freshened up our attack and looked to be on the same wavelength as Salah and Firmino. Deserves more minutes, but so do a few others.
Matip – I imagine one or two fans groaned when he came on to defend a lead, but in truth it was a sensible decision (and unlike some games in the past, it was not playing with 3 CBs, just moving Gomez to RB).

Klopp – surprised a few people by keeping the same starting 11 for 3 games straight despite a wealth of options on the bench, but you can't argue with 9 points and 3 clean sheets. His one tactical tweak for this game was modifying Salah's position – this time he constantly found himself with the ball at #10 position kind of like Mane did in other games cutting in from the opposite flank. I think he is trying to make the attack more balanced (and less predictable) by making sure than both Mane and Salah can do some playmaking as well as running in behind – interesting idea, but only a partially successful execution this time. Subs were spot-on.
 
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We didn’t play well and Brighton were clearly full of confidence and playing well. Some very sloppy passing from our lads today but on the bright side Salah still has majestic goals on tap and we got three points...

That’ll do.
 
Very satisfying win. Alisson was once again superb, nearly got punished at one point or two, but so calm and composed.
 
We didn’t play well and Brighton were clearly full of confidence and playing well. Some very sloppy passing from our lads today but on the bright side Salah still has majestic goals on tap and we got three points...

That’ll do.

They played well for them but we were better than them overall.
 
I'll take 3 points all day, but that second half performance was terrible. We couldn't have complained had they snatched a draw. Still, we won without playing great. Good stuff.
 
I thought Gini was magnificent today. Milner first half but faded, Gini was amazing and really saved Alissons ass near the end.
Gomez is a better CB than full back and played really well.
 
Becker - 7 - Would be more but for the very silly effort where he almost lost the ball.

Robertson - 7 - Always there in both defence and attack. I do wish he would put his head up when he drives for the line to cross though.

VvD - 6.5 - did what he needed to but not at his most fluent or assured.

Gomez - 7.5 very fine game, assured, cool and in control.

TAA - 7 - I thought he played really well for someone who now seems to see more of the ball than anyone else ! Crossing and cutting in were better than last week.

Milner - 6.5 - started off great but gave a few balls away and his passing wasn't at it's most destructive. That said he never hid and was always there when we needed him to be.

Gini - 8 - MotM - where wasn't he ? Played really well controlling the game until Hendo came on and then looked good getting forward and looking to put one of our forwards in.

Keita - 6 - not at anything like his best and a bit hit and miss for him

Salah - 6 - apart from the goal I thought he was poor, constantly giving the ball away and failing to dribble past his marker.

Firmino - 6 - like Mo lots of flicks and tricks but nothing came off.

Mane - 5 - a huge drop off from last week. He was still putting the effort in but like Mo and Bobby, it all crashed against the Brighton Rocks.


Hendo - nice cameo. I think he'll start ahead of Milner or Naby next week as we look to freshen up the team and create competition.

Studge - NA - held the ball up and tried to shoot when both I and the defender knew he was going to.

Klopp - frustratingly didn't introduce Shaqiri when Mane need to be pulled off.
 
Not sure what is wrong with Naby. It's the 2nd time he's done a shit backpass which put us right into trouble.

Hopefully he just needs a little more time to get used to our system.
 
Salah was the worst player on the pitch I thought. Barely completed a pass. Ill forgive him because of the beautiful goal though. He needs to get his shi together.

Keita was poo tonight. Worst of the 4 CMs by miles
 
Becker - 7 - Would be more but for the very silly effort where he almost lost the ball.

Robertson - 7 - Always there in both defence and attack. I do wish he would put his head up when he drives for the line to cross though.

VvD - 6.5 - did what he needed to but not at his most fluent or assured.

Gomez - 7.5 very fine game, assured, cool and in control.

TAA - 7 - I thought he played really well for someone who now seems to see more of the ball than anyone else ! Crossing and cutting in were better than last week.

Milner - 6.5 - started off great but gave a few balls away and his passing wasn't at it's most destructive. That said he never hid and was always there when we needed him to be.

Gini - 8 - MotM - where wasn't he ? Played really well controlling the game until Hendo came on and then looked good getting forward and looking to put one of our forwards in.

Keita - 6 - not at anything like his best and a bit hit and miss for him

Salah - 6 - apart from the goal I thought he was poor, constantly giving the ball away and failing to dribble past his marker.

Firmino - 6 - like Mo lots of flicks and tricks but nothing came off.

Mane - 5 - a huge drop off from last week. He was still putting the effort in but like Mo and Bobby, it all crashed against the Brighton Rocks.


Hendo - nice cameo. I think he'll start ahead of Milner or Naby next week as we look to freshen up the team and create competition.

Studge - NA - held the ball up and tried to shoot when both I and the defender knew he was going to.

Klopp - frustratingly didn't introduce Shaqiri when Mane need to be pulled off.
Harsh in Milner (7) and Virg (7) agree with the rest. And the motm.
Wijnaldum was amazing tonight
 
Salah was the worst player on the pitch I thought. Barely completed a pass. Ill forgive him because of the beautiful goal though. He needs to get his shi together.

Keita was poo tonight. Worst of the 4 CMs by miles

Yep about Keita but Mane was was the worst I felt. Both rightly hooked.
 
Yep, we deserved the 3 points today.

Brighton had their moments in the second half but we had just as many, and we were superior in the first.
Possession 70-30
Shots 22 (8) to 6 (2)

We had far more moments and could/should have put this away - still, a win is a win so not bitchin too much.
 
Harsh in Milner (7) and Virg (7) agree with the rest. And the motm.
Wijnaldum was amazing tonight
Haha harsh = 0.5 of a point difference for both of my ratings (6.5) to yours (7) 😀

Yeah Gini was excellent, as he has been in all three matches this season I think.
 
Brighton were very disciplined, but we were a bit too reminiscent of last season in terms of the slowness of our play and the amount of passes backwards.

Under-performers included TAA, who wasn't TOO bad but he needs to vary his attacking game more (we're not a tall team so I'd rather we run into the box rather than keep crossing the ball); Mane and Salah - maybe it's heavy-leggedness after pre-season training, but neither of them seem quite right in their passing or shooting, with Mane especially over-hitting the kind of passes he'd complete effortlessly last season; and Keita - while I am delighted to agree that he has great potential, he's not had me raving yet like some fans have done, and today I didn't feel he was awake most of the time (and he needs to release the ball far more often and more quickly).

Best contributions came from Milner, again, and Wini, Robertson, VVD and Gomez. Hendo was just the right player to bring on to introduce more drive and discipline. Allison's tricks are stuff to enjoy after the game rather than during it, but he's a class keeper.

Third game in - not bad at all, but some players need to have a rest and freshen up.
 
I thought we were a bit rubbish compared to our usual standard. Everyone walking out the ground was saying the same thing "we made hard work of that".

The goalie, back four (I've been a critic of Gomez when he's played right back but he was so composed today, especially against that big yard dog Murray), Gini and Milner were solid but the front three, Mane especially, were well under par, constantly giving the ball away when not even under pressure.

I was surprised by Brighton, keep hearing they like to play attacking football but it was as if they had forgotten they were getting beat, men just parked behind the ball. Saying that, their plan would have been fruitful if it had not been for Alisson's save at the end.

We'd have drawn that game last season so even though it wasn't the best performance, it was a great result.
 
I hate saying this but i feel kinda spoilt by last season and all those goals we scored. I was expecting a minimum of a 3-0 win. Happy for the 3 points..but really hope the trio up front sort their shit out. I think another game like this then Shaqiri should be given a chance as I strongly believe he can carve out and break up those 10 men walls quicker than our front men. Apart from Alisson I am not seeing the value of our other new signings.
 
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