It’s not encouraging- it’s a really strong performance.
Literally the only creative outlet we had - I’m surprised how people aren’t giving him the credit he deserves.
He is what I am talking about when I say the difference between a player who ball-oriented or space-oriented.
His movement to get into space, often a few steps behind a line just out of their periphery vision, and to be thinking of the passing option both too and from himself to make sure his positioning is ideal is fantastic to watch. Just never saw that at Stoke, I guess because he was usually positioned in relation to a full back man marking him and had a touchline against him controlling him one side and probably the need to provide width as an outlet largely dictating where he should be.
The difference between someone like Milner or Can, who tend to move wider to find space away from the central congestion, and Shaqiri who can just find those little pockets even in that congestion is very noticeable. Just imagining having two such players - Ox, Lallana, Fekir, eg - playing in front of a #6 who has press resistance would take us up to a whole new level and immediately kill something that has been an achilles heel of ours in both european finals under Klopp.
