Southampton Post Match

[Kenneth]

I like his determination and intelligence on the ball. Heard a few giving him stick in the pub when he was subbed on but then started hearing the opposite as the game wore on.

He arrived with a reputation for keeping the ball but he's been a bit disappointing in that regard, he does lots of good but does quite often throw it away with a slip or misplaced short ball. Very good energy and a very good squad player.

[danperkins]

He looked ok in first half but had a mare in the second when we they start pushing.

[vlahka]

So glad I decided to take a **** before that game started.

[Boogs]

We're is Morse and his MOTM thread?

[baitman]

A win's a win at this stage of the season. We built our team around Suarez and it's going to take a while to develop our new style of play without him. We either need to buy a top class striker and go back to the diamond, or hope that when we add Can, Moreno, Lallana and Markovic into the mix things will start to click.

I thought that Lovren and Manquillo had very assured debuts today, two definite positives against the negatives that Johnson is still badly out of form and the Lucas/Gerrard midfield was woefully short of mobility and energy. Credit to Sterling and Sturridge for taking their chances when it mattered. Otherwise I thought the rest of them were OK, it was struggling to establish a new system that was the issue rather than individual failings.

It is almost comical to me how often Skrtel loses the flight of the ball when it's in the air though. Again at least 4-5 times today he was in a poor position to win the resulting header, though he mostly got away with it. I'd send him for eye tests, he might just be short-sighted, he's fine when it's close up or on the deck.

Yeah Southampton aren't much worse off. I wish we had signed Nathaniel Clyne but Manquillo did well today. Koeman looked to limit the space for Coutinho and that really affected us. He obviously noticed in the Dortmund game how big a threat he was and how our play goes through him. They are a really tough team to beat and we should be proud of that win, especially for the first game of the season.

[baitman]

You're missing the point completely. The way our fullbacks play will always be risky. Would you want them to play deeper and offer next to nothing going forward? Manquillo and Moreno are both attacking fullbacks, so that won't change.

We just need to retain the ball a bit better and keep our patience, which we couldn't do today.

the full backs didnt help the CBs, not due to being too far forward or overcommitting up the pitch, but more due to the fact they we sitting too deep covering no one [less so manquillo than kayser sose] and allowing the wide southampton players room to pick up the ball and get a run on them.
the pressing needs to be a little further up the pitch to prevent them getting the ball unchallenged and being able to then cross or chase down our wings.

[marcus50bucks]

What kind of issues? Thought the midfield was lethargic and off the pace, which brought us problems in defence. We just are a bit rusty and couldn't control the game as we wanted.

I'm talking defensively as a whole. Not tracking runs is a problem we've had for a good while and I saw it today time and time again.

[marcus50bucks]

Nice for Rodgers to experiment with the 4-2-3-1. However, I hope and expect to see him go back to 4-3-3 as it was telling the improvement we made when he switched to his tried and trusted formation.

[baitman]

The sooner Johnson is out of the side the better. Skrtel makes me shudder at times too.

agree with the first bit, obviously.

skrtel is fairly decent, its more about the quality of the other players around him.
he looks better with lovren. if skrtel makes an interception then we need mobile dm or midfield to cover the ground and tidy up/retain possession.
gerrard and hendo did this but it needs all of them to be more aware and willing to cover/assist.

[marcus50bucks]

Chris Bascombe @_ChrisBascombe · 16 secs
Brendan Rodgers says Luis Suarez sent him a good luck text before today's game. "His heart will always be with Liverpool," said Rodgers.

[cream]

Nice for Rodgers to experiment with the 4-2-3-1. However, I hope and expect to see him go back to 4-3-3 as it was telling the improvement we made when he switched to his tried and trusted formation.

I hope that silly experiment has been put to bed.

[danperkins]

Nice for Rodgers to experiment with the 4-2-3-1. However, I hope and expect to see him go back to 4-3-3 as it was telling the improvement we made when he switched to his tried and trusted formation.

[Camble]

Playing Lucas and Gerrard was a mistake. We lacked going forward without Allen and Gerrard's legs, then when Gerrard got forward he left a space behind him which Lucas struggled to cover when they got the ball off us, so I'd have Allen over Lucas.

It'll be a nice headache when Lallana and Markovic get fit.

Sterling is looking great.


As for the defence, Johnson offers absolutely nothing. He can't defend and 9 times out of 10 going forward he gives it away. The sooner we can get Moreno/Enrique in the better.

Manquillo looked solid but had to tread carefully after his booking (which was ridiculous considering Bertrand did the same foul on him twice only minutes before).

Skrtel looked a lot better organised alongside Lovren who I thought did well.

[Chazza]

[ame]https://twitter.com/GifsLiverpool/status/501012158935998464[/ame]

[Gibbo]

Wins a win.

Not sure how we played as I missed the game, will deffo watch on MOTD tonight.

Can anyone give me a wee summary, I've so far got that Skrtel was ****.