Very entertaining game that was. We dominated a lesser team from start to finish, like we always did all these years, and very much last season. The difference between this game and the games where we absolutely tore teams a new one and yet failed to win last season was we were so much more in control when we did not have the ball. The closing down was superb, the two mid fielders retrieved balls beautifully and the front four ran their socks off. This might be that all these players are fresh but this is a definite shift from recent years.
The front four I was talking about, they were everywhere weren't they. Even Downing worked hard and attacked with purpose. Gerrard and Suarez were a force together and you have to wonder why Stevie was so underused after 2008-09 in the free role behind the striker. He is quite an unstoppable force there. That flick overhead to Suarez, WOW!
I'll admit I haven't watched Borini at all earlier, but today I am convinced he would go on to be a cracking player. His movement, touches, positioning and work rate are top notch. The way he got into goal scoring position whilst still playing out wide makes me very pleased. We need such players who gamble well and get into the box in time. Maxi was one such, Borini seems to be a similar player but more direct.
Special praise to Lucas and Shelvey, especially. Lucas, we've started expecting a level of performance and he's been delivering consistently, so there is no surprise there. But Shelvey was so mature yesterday. Worked hard, complimented Lucas and played a very neat game throughout. I hate to say it but the gulf in class was very much apparent once Lucas and Jonjo were replaced by Spearing and Adam.
Enrique was getting a bit of flak recently but he turned in a decent performance last night. Solid defensively as ever and pushing on and making intelligent simple passes when required. His dwelling on the ball was much less visible in that display. Johnson on the other side was magnificent. No amount of overrating Walker, Richards and other right backs can take away the fact that Glen Johnson is one of the best right backs in the game and certainly the best in the country.
Finally, some of the short passing close to our goal scared the living shit out of me but I'm glad we're trying to take a few risks to make things work rather than unnecessarily booting balls down blind alleys.
Overall, a solid performance to begin the season. There is still a lot of room for improvement though, and I know both the team and Rodgers recognize that. A couple more players in and I'd be quietly confident about this season. We should just mentally tune ourselves and turn these flashes into consistent week-in-week-out displays - something which has not been happening in the past 20+ years.