Five summer signings featured against Stoke yesterday, and all played their part in a crucial opening day victory – which has left fans excited at the prospect of what’s to come when everyone’s fully charged and bedded in.
Here’s our analysis of the new boys, Gomez, Clyne, Milner, Benteke and Firmino on debut day.
Joe Gomez
Gomez had arguably the toughest job on the pitch, facing a one-on-one contest with the wily Jonathan Walters – who has pace, power and every ‘professional’ trick in the book. A tough ask for an 18-year-old, but the fact we came away from the Britannia with three points and a clean sheet proves Gomez did well. There were times when he found himself out of position, or made a bad decision, but crucially – none of them led directly to opposition chances. As the game went on, Gomez became more solid, and Walters’ threat was neutralised. He was comfortable in possession, and we like that he concentrated on the defensive side of his game instead of marauding down the flank, which could have left us exposed.
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(Video) Roberto Firmino bags hat-trick in 5-1 friendly win v TNS
Nathaniel Clyne
The best of our debutants. Clyne looked as if he’d been playing right-back for Liverpool for a decade. Defensively, as was his most important job, Clyne was perfect – winning his tackles and headers – as the Squawka stat below suggests. Clyne was signed because Glen Johnson was a liability at the back in truth, and thankfully, it seems like the former Southampton man is anything but. Keep up the good work.
James Milner
A typical James Milner performance, in many ways. The most experienced of our debutants was relentless in his harrying of the opposition, but perhaps struggled to effectively decide ‘who does what’ alongside Jordan Henderson in the midfield two. This is because both enjoy the lung-busting role, free to roam the pitch and contribute defensively and offensively. Before Emre Can’s introduction, there was at times confusion as to who should do what, which meant Milner and Henderson both struggled to get forward and link up with the playmakers. Milner played some nice sprayed passes though and was a positive influence on the side overall.
Christian Benteke
Benteke had two proper chances on debut, and sadly failed to take either. The first came from a Jordan Henderson cross which resulted in an air-shot, while his effort from Coutinho’s lay-off in the box was blocked by desperate Stoke defenders. He did hold the ball up well though, playing one-twos with midfielders, or gently laying it off to onrushing team-mates. On two occasions he made telling runs in behind the back-four, but didn’t quite have the pace to get onto first Coutinho and then Emre Can’s through-balls – but it’s great to see that he will give us that option in behind. The forward’s work-rate wasn’t relentless, and he didn’t press defenders when in possession a la Luis Suarez, but this isn’t his style. His strength and touch was noticeable, but a harsh critic would note a lack of movement at times. Still, there’s plenty of time for him to get up to speed and his manager was delighted with his efforts.
“With Christian Benteke up front, you saw his quality,” said the Liverpool manager, via the Daily Mail. “You saw his movement, his strength, his power and that ability in the air. He was outstanding.”
Roberto Firmino
The Brazilian only got 12 minutes to show fans what he’s capable of, with Brendan Rodgers bringing him on for Jordon Ibe down the right. Firmino prefers to play centrally, but showed a few nice touches from the inverted touchline position. He attacked his fullback on more than one occasion, and managed to recycle possession when under pressure from Stoke defenders, who tried to double up on him. Most impressively, Firmino made two diagonal runs down the right, enabling Nathaniel Clyne at right-back an out option as we tried to kill the game having taken the lead. Almost more tellingly though, Firmino bagged a hat-trick in a friendly v TNS at Melwood this Monday – showing that he’s increasing in sharpness, and could be available for the Bournemouth clash.
