Two of the Reds' three deadline day signings made their first appearances for the club in the 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium on Monday night, and it's fair to say one fared significantly better than the other.
For on loan Victor Moses, it was a debut to remember as he dazzled in the opening 45 minutes and capped his impressive display with a fine goal before eventually running out of steam in the second half and being substituted.
For Mamadou Sakho, however, it would be overstating things to describe it as a debut to forget, but it was certainly a baptism by fire. Coming into the side in place of injured vice-captain Daniel Agger, Sakho was given a quick and painful introduction to Premier League life as Jonjo Shelvey skipped away from him to give Swansea the lead inside two minutes.
The goal was not just on the £16m man, it was the result of a catalogue of errors combined with some good fortune on Shelvey's part. Sakho's initial header wasn't great and neither was Jordan Henderson's attempt at clearing it out of the danger area. Steven Gerrard should never have turned his back on Shelvey's attempted volley and Sakho should have stayed on his feet instead of diving in. He compounded that error by not getting back in a little quicker after being beaten, as he may have been able to stop Shelvey converting the loose ball after Martin Skrtel's brilliant block challenge had initially denied him.
Sakho dived in a few times in the first half, which I put down to an over-eagerness to impress and to show his physicality. He was brought in because of his physical prowess and Brendan Rodgers described him as 'a monster'. Perhaps he was trying a little too hard to live up to that, but I felt after the break he settled down and improved considerably.
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