Positives And Negatives From Bordeaux Draw

Positives And Negatives From Bordeaux Draw

Liverpool earned a decent if not convincing result in France last night with a 1-1 draw in their Europa League opener against Bordeaux. Adam Lallana’s quality finish in the second half gave Liverpool the lead before a late equaliser by substitute Jussie earned Bordeaux a share of the points. Here are the positive and negative points I’ve taken from the match.

POSITIVES

1. The biggest positive of the night had to be the youngsters that featured for Liverpool. Jordan Rossiter started the game and he didn’t look out of place, the 18-year-old produced a mature performance, linking the defence with the attack with his passes and he was keen to make himself available for a pass and keen to get on the ball. Rossiter also provided good cover for the defence by making countless tackles and a few fouls during the game as he showed a determination that has been lacking in Liverpool’s midfield this season. Pedro Chirivella joined Rossiter in the middle of Liverpool’s midfield after Kolo Toure had to be replaced after picking up an injury during the first half, and after a shaky beginning to his night, the 18-year-old settled down and produced a confident performance by showing us how good his passing ability is. Cameron Brannagan came on late in the game to make his debut and the experience for all three youngsters is invaluable.
2. Joe Gomez produced another fine performance in Liverpool’s defence, he has all the attributes to make him a top class defender and produced another accomplished performance on his European debut.
3. Mamadou Sakho received his first start of the season and also captained the team and although Liverpool supporters believe he is the best central defender at the club, his performance should prompt manager Brendan Rodgers into realising this. Sakho produced a solid and assured display of what Liverpool need at the back as the French international made countless challenges and snuffed out most of the danger that Bordeaux provided. Sakho’s use of the ball was more impressive than what we see from Skrtel and Lovren with the French international always looking to play a forward pass to start an attack. He must start on Sunday or Rodgers will be asked questions.
4.                                                Negatives

1. Once again Rodgers played a lone striker, this time Origi, who looks raw and quite a distance from being a first team player, but it doesn’t matter who Liverpool play up front at the moment under Rodgers formation because they are left isolated with very little support.
2. Adam Lallana returned from injury last night and produced a moment of magic to score Liverpool’s goal, but these moments are all too rare and overall he was very disappointing and needs to improve with Firmino challenging for his place in the team.
3. Jordon Ibe had another quiet game and has disappointed after an impressive pre-season. But being dropped after two ineffective Premier League games hasn’t helped his confidence and it is showing with his reluctance to take on a defender, playing as a wing-back doesn’t suit his game, he needs to be attacking defenders with his pace.
4. Rodgers needs a win and although it was great to rest some first team regulars and give much needed experience to some youngsters, Liverpool should be beating a poor Bordeaux team and if he selected a stronger side and played with more attacking intent a win was there for the taking. A win at home to Norwich on Sunday is a must for Rodgers.