TK's Ratings - Barcelona CL Semi Second Leg

[Pureblood]

Hello and welcome to this very special edition of the popular TLW fan-feature, TK's Ratings.

 

The Reds entertained Barcelona in the second leg of this Champions League semi-final as the GOAT and his pals rocked into town to stroll deservedly through to the final after gaining a commanding lead in the first leg at la Camp el Nou.  What they had not reckoned on was a night that will go down in LFC folklore alongside St Etienne, Olympiakos and that time Rafapool eeked out a 1-0 win against Southampton.  

 

Alisson Becker - 9.  Dealt admirably with whatever came his way.  There were some routine saves, and some not-so-routine saves.  A couple of 1 v 1s, most notably with Suarez, were hoovered up.  His anticipation and willingness to come off his line made it look easy. 

 

Trent Alexander Arnold - 9.  What can you say?  The visitors had a couple of moments of joy down his side in the first half.  After that it was pure Trent.  Those first time volleyed passes are a sight to behold.  He saved the best until last when, seizing upon his own error, he took the ball to the byline and won a corner.  The rest is history.

 

Joel Matip - 8.  Floated an iffy crossfield ball for the opening goal.  Not a great pass, but good enough to disorientate Jordi Alba and set us on our way.  He took a yellow for the team in the second half with a timely chop on Messi.  Other than that he had a relatively quiet but effective game.

 

Virgil van Dijk - 9.  Excellent distribution and calmness personified.  He's probably quiet a lot of other things personified.  Together with his partner Matip, he mopped up some of Barca's long balls to keep us on the front foot.  Those precision diagonal balls out to the flanks, that aerial dominance, those tree trunk thighs, those high cheekbones... *drool*  

 

Andrew Roberston - 8.  Provided some excellent cover to the centre backs by being in the right place at the right time to deny Suarez in the first half.  Got forward to good effect, as usual, and had a decent effort on goal but it was straight at Ter Stegen.  Midway through the first half he joined the injury scare trend set by captain Jordan Henderson.  Who wouldn't want to join a trend set by our inspirational captain?  Not me, I can tell you that.  It was enough to keep him out of the second half, where he sported a nice hooded top as he sat on the bench.  David Cameron once famously said "hug a hoodie".  Robbo would get a big hug from me.  

 

Fabinho - 8.  Picked up a yellow card early on which somewhat hampered his ability to throw in the tackles, most notably when Messi broke through to set up ex-Red Coutinho for a very presentable chance.  After that, it did not seem to adversely affect his game as he put in yet another dominant display.  In my view, this game was won in the midfield battle and Fabinho was a big part of that. 

 

Jordan Henderson - 8.  Linked well with Mane for the first goal, anticipating that Jordi Alba was in trouble and setting off on a run to link up with our Senegalese international.  He showed great composure to skip past a couple of Barca challenges and dig out a shot with his left peg.  Had an injury scare midway through the first half.  Excellent reading of the game throughout and a nice bit of pressing which helped put us on the front foot for the second goal.  He even tried spinning in the first half, that was a good trick.

 

 

James Milner - 8.  Set the tone in the very first minute with some harrying and tough tackling.  Has anyone checked to see if he is German?  This performance had "teutonic efficiency" scrawled all over it.  Vorsprung durch Milner. 

 

Divock Origi - 9.  He best game in a red shirt?  Has to be up there.  Followed in like all good strikers do for an easy tap in.  There were a couple of occasions in the first half when his hold up play could have been better, but he eased himself into it and as the game went on the ball stuck, bringing others into play.  Popped up at the end with another memorable winner from "that corner".  These late winners are becoming his forte, which is a nice habit to have.   I think I read somewhere that we might be prepared to let him go if an offer of £25m came in.  No thanks, he is easily worth more and on current form I would not let him leave.   

 

Sadio Mane - 8.  Did well to anticipate Jordi Alba's error for the opening goal.  Never stopped working throughout, both defensively and in the high press.  

 

Xherdan Shaqiri - 7.  He was the only player to fall below the standards set by the rest.  Had a poor first half, too often giving away possession needlessly and can probably count himself lucky that it did not result in a decisive away goal.  It was all a bit sloppy and careless.  But he stuck to his task, and improved immeasurably after the break, most notably to put in a precision ball for the third goal.  

 

Substitutes

 

Georginio Wijnaldum - 9.  Introduced at half-time in place of the injured Robertson.  One perfectly timed run into the box, one sweet header and suddenly it is 3-3 on aggregate.  You just never know when he will pop up, do you?  Produced a mesmerising turn late on in the game to take out three Barca players and set up another attack.  For me, Wijnaldum is a highly underrated player.  My final Gini-related observation is that I like the way Gary Linekar pronounced his surname.  

 

Joe Gomez - N/A.  Came on with five minutes left to shore up the defence.  

 

Daniel Strurridge - N/A.  Introduced to run the clock down.

 

Manager

 

Jurgen Klopp - 10.  Missing two of his front three and lost Robertson at half time to injury.  Okay, you could argue that the Wijnaldum game changing substitution was forced upon him, but whatever.  He got everything right as far as I am concerned.  To wrap up the contest inside 90 minutes without the need for extra time?  It was perfection.  And therefore Jurgen is the first person to pick up the elusive "10" rating.  Congratulations Jurgen!

 

(C) TK421 2019 - all rights reserved

[The Guest]

Trent - 10, Fab and Hendo - 9s, Joel probably a 9 as well.

[s(k)aturation]

4 minutes ago, TK421 said:

The Reds entertained Barcelona

 

It was definitely entertaining.

[Anubis]

Last night they were all 10s as far as I'm concerned.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Robbo's head push on Messi bumps him up to a 10 for me.

[s(k)aturation]

7 minutes ago, Anubis said:

Last night they were all 10s as far as I'm concerned.

 

Anubis rates OK.

 

 

[Pureblood]

14 minutes ago, The Guest said:

Trent - 10, Fab and Hendo - 9s, Joel probably a 9 as well.

I agree that Trent was our best player on the night, but I didn't want to single him out by giving him a 10 because for me it was a true team effort where every player played their part.  If I gave half marks him and Divock would get 9.5, but I don't do half marks because they're for pussies.  You might as well give full marks out of 20.

 

Jurgen deserves the 10 for overseeing the whole thing.  It's like having Ace Rimmer as manager.  What a guy! 

[Lee909]

All 10s last night

Even Sturridge with the face ache he had on