Match Day 1: Liverpool vs West Ham Player Ratings (12-August-2018) - Milner Masterclass leads to all forwards blazing.

Hey all, this is a new blog meant for most of the matches that I'll be watching for the Liverpool's Season! I'm a guy that's a musician and an avid Liverpool Supporter from Singapore.

Prior to their very first Match day of the season, Liverpool had a strong transfer window and a strong run of results in their considered very intensive pre-season game. So when they faced off against Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham United, they put up a strong show that demonstrated a very convincing start to the new season. The scoreline could have been a few more towards Liverpool's favour, if not for some of the goalkeeping heroics by former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski who tried his best to minimise the damage. To Lukasz's credit, he was the one that had the most decent game amongst the hammers which is why I gave a 7. He had a few really good saves and because of their shocking defense, there wasn't anything he could have done with the goals leaked in, especially Mane's first.

So here's my very first Player Ratings last night:
My location last night: Starker Bistro @ Singapore, Katong Square.

At Starker Bistro watching Alisson Becker securing
his clean sheet

GK: Alisson Becker - 6.5 / 10

Rarely tested and had nothing much to do. However it is good to see that Alisson feels confident and comfortable. It is too early to say anything much for the used-to-be record signing Goalkeeper (Kepa overtook that record this transfer window), but initial signs are promising after the horror show with Karius. The all-important clean sheet is definitely good for morale and keeping the momentum up, hope for more to come from our new Number 1.

But seriously, how we spent 65 Million pounds and he doesn't get the number 1 jersey is way beyond me. Well, his Number 13 is here to stay.

LB: Andrew Robertson - 7.5 / 10

Provided a strong avenue in attack in support of the left wing with Naby Keita and provided the assist for Mohamed Salah's first goal. Has been showing why Andy Robertson is a huge bargain buy and worth more than 8 million when he was picked up.

CB: Joe Gomez - 6.5 / 10

It is the first time that we see a new Center Back pairing and Joe steps in for the injured Lovren. The backline was rarely tested but when they were, it was pretty much routine.

CB: Virgil Van Dijk - 7 / 10

Marshalled the Back four well in front of Alisson. He did give a few balls away that did result in a couple nervy moments when facing West Ham's biggest threat Arnautovic but their attack eventually fizzled out. Of course he would have to do better but already he has given the back four a sense of confidence when he is in play.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold - 8.5 / 10

The young but very experienced Champions League finalist is full of energy providing a strong linkup in attack supporting the right wing with James Milner. It was Trent that helped to setup Mane's first goal with a pass that cuts through 2 West Ham Midfielders from the right down the center. He was a constant threat on the right wing that provided a lot of difficulty for the Hammers to defend against. An ever growing youngster who will get better with time. Definitely expect some greater things from the graduate this season as he has done for 2017 / 2018.

Watch out for Naby Keita, inheritor of the legendary
Number 8 Squad number from Stevie G.

LM: Naby Keita - 8 / 10

Beware, Naby is in the house and he convinced with a strong debut. He wasted no time to get the ball rolling and was able to rotate between attack and defence when it was needed and it showed that he could be the complete package of a midfielder. Setting the tempo right and was heavily involved in the buildup to Salah's goal. The one year period to get him was surely worth the wait.

CM: Gini Wijnaldum - 8 / 10

Played well in the number 6 role in terms of linking up with every one else in the field. Gini has shown his versatility in the central role. Could have converted a few scoring opportunities to increase that scoreline but he was unlucky.

James Milner Bossing the midfield
Old but Gold.

RM: James Milner, Captain - 9 / 10 (Man of the Match) 

It takes more than 15 stitches and a huge bandanna for a bandage to put down this hard head. Not even that will stop him from playing. That's commitment and professionalism. The oldest player on the pitch was the driving engine of the midfield and put up a masterclass while giving experience to the squad. Simply put, it is like Milner is the conductor of an orchestra running the show. His energy, agility and endurance levels at that age, and with a head injury, was staggering which was needed for that burst of speed that gave the lightning assist to Sadio Mane's first goal, leaving Fabianski with absolutely no chance. He put another assist from the corner for Daniel Sturridge. He along with Trent were the ones bottling the Hammers to their goal most of the time.

LW / LF: Sadio Mane - 8.5 / 10

A solid outing for our promoted Number 10 that gave him his brace. It also gave him the honor of scoring in 3 consecutive opening games for the reds in a row. He was in good form since returning from the world cup and was a constant menace down the left wing. His first goal at the stroke of half time opened the floodgates for the 2nd half and effectively killed the game with his 2nd goal. But shame, didn't go for the hat trick.

Our Mane Man and our new Number 10 Sadio Mane
Celebrates after scoring from an assist from Milner

CF: Roberto Firmino - 7.5 / 10

Considering he was not fully fit, he still did reasonably well. Moreover starting him was needed to rebuild his fitness and he did reasonably well. He did drove the center and tasked with breaking through the frontlines, he succeeded in assisting for Mane's 2nd goal. Give him a bit more time to return to full fitness and I reckon he'll be fine.

RW / RF: Mohamed Salah - 8 / 10

A routine game for the Egyptian King, Mo Salah.

Simply does what Salah does. He was a bit quiet at times but that goal was certainly needed to build his confidence after his team's rather shambolic world cup. With that goal, he has scored 3 times against the same team consecutively, making him pretty much West Ham's nemesis. Still takes his chances whenever he can and I think he should just keep doing that.

The Dance is back for Danny Sturridge.
Celebrating with Xherdan Shaqiri and Virgil Van Dijk

SUBSTITUTES

Daniel Sturridge (for Mo Salah) - UR

Cannot really rate him because he was brought in so late. But super-sub he was indeed because it only takes one touch and a few seconds on the pitch to confirm the win. His dance is back too and he has been having the form of his life the last few weeks. If he stays fit and keeps in form as he has done pre-season, it will not be long till he is back to his clinical self of 2013/14.

Henderson (for Firmino) - 7

Got the captain's armband from Milner and was back to defensive duty the last 20 minutes of the game, complimenting well with the rest of the midfield.

Xherdan Shaqiri (For Sadio Mane) - UR

Didn't have much time to make an impact but he did take a chance well and could have gotten himself a goal on his debut at the last kick of the game.

Unused Subs: Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne, Loris Karius, Fabinho.

Manager Rating: Jurgen Klopp - 8

Klopp has named a good squad as he typically does for a game. Some of the changes like Lovren unable to make it for any reason were enforced and Gomez was rewarded with a start. Handing debuts to Keita and Alisson was pretty much a no brainer. He could have swapped Firmino for Fabinho to shore up the defences a little bit but it was not needed when the game is pretty much killed with Mane.

There is always room for improvement; definitely no means perfect but this is a good sign so far. They're not that far from achieving that perfect synergy within this 2018/2019 squad, but cross your fingers they'll get even better and more formidable as the season rolls on.

West Ham Ratings:

Initially West Ham were pretty compact as a squad and they started well in the first 10-15 minutes and tested their own defense with the incoming blitzkrieg. But many times, Noble finds himself in the middle too spread out from his teammates which allowed the Liverpool Midfield trio of Keita, Milner, Wijnaldum with some help from Trent to exploit that space. Anderson and Anautovic did pose a few problems and tested the backline but it was not quite enough to get the job done. But there was a huge positive from the Number 1, Fabianski pulled off a brilliant save against Trent's free kick and another very tight one to deny Salah his 2nd goal, these would have otherwise made the score far more embarrassing for Manuel Pellegrini for his Debut match as a West Ham manager. But what was ever more painful is a double nut-shot by a powerful James Milner free kick and a Mo Salah followup inflicted on Jack Wilshere and Nobles, that must have hurt big time, see the clip on the right.

Fabianski 7, Fredericks 4, Balbeuna 4.5, Ogbonna 4, Masuaku 4, Nobles , Wilshire 5, Rice 4, Antonio 5, Anderson 5, Anautovic 5.5.
Manuel Pellegrini: 6


NEXT MATCH:
CRYSTAL PALACE 21st August 2018, Away.