To have a player like Mario shunted on the sidelines like that is truly bizarre when you take into consideration that it wasn`t just him who struggled in those 4231s,433s shapes we used earlier in the season when we couldn`t muster a single chance in most games. In the new shape team is now attacking in bigger numbers, people between the lines are closer together , we are creating much more and it`s a crying shame we don`t seem to want to give him another chance till Sturridge gets back.
This is a guy who is good enough to score two goals against mighty Germany in Euro semi-final, he has quality but we clearly didn`t use him properly so far and not only would he thrive in this new shape - the hint of which we`d seen tonight - but he`d also offer huge presence and physicality to go with it.
Lallana and Markovic improved in time for the simple reason they learned a lot about their new teammates and their games , I`m convinced Mario would follow suit and play better than he did early in the season when hardly anyone in the team played well.