Nonetheless, our opportunity to put things right following that calamitous day at the Britannia was upon us with the opening game of the new campaign; under normal circumstances a visit to Stoke would be a fixture we would hope to avoid to begin the season, but, given Liverpool’s need to get the hammering out of their system, this was a fortunate draw.
Brendan Rodgers picked an interesting side to start the game against the Potters, with only five players featuring who were on the wrong side of our last visit to the Britannia. Simon Mignolet was the obvious choice between the sticks, with new recruit Adam Bogdan providing goal-keeping back-up on the bench. The defence was a little more tricky to predict, with doubt over whether it would be Sakho or Dejan Lovern partnering Martin Skrtel in central defence; Lovern got the nod, and the Croatian did well, producing arguably his best performance in a Red shirt, displaying composure in possession and authority in ariel duals. Liverpool’s full-backs also played very well, with Nathaniel Clyne starting at right-back and youngster Joe Gomez starting on the left despite being right-footed. Both Clyne and Gomez completed 100% of their attempted tackles and the latter also made a key pass, laying in Coutinho before the Brazilian lost his marker and curled a sweet shot into the top-corner. It is worth noting that Joe Gomez only played a total of 21 games for Charlton Athletic before joining the reds in the summer; for a player lacking in experience he did exceptionally well.
It was not only the defence that performed to a high standard, Liverpool’s midfield functioned well, with newly appointed captain Jordan Henderson, partnering new signing James Milner at the base of the midfield pentagon. The English duo put in professional performances, but both were able to inject more influence on the game with the introduction of Emre Can who came on as a second-half substitute. The German protected the defence with a set of strong challenges and this simultaneously enabled both Henderson and Milner to press higher and concentrate on the offensive aspects of their games: Henderson played a selection of Steven Gerrard-esque passes, angled and accurate toward Jordan Ibe and Adam Lallana on the flanks; Milner’s contribution was with more intricate play, making runs in between the lines and executing cute balls through the Stoke defence, one such pattern of play involved Milner linking with Coutinho before chipping the ball through to the marauding Henderson, who was subsequently unlucky not to pick out Benteke with his first-time cushion pass.
With Henderson and Milner deployed deeper, Coutinho, Ibe and Lallana started the game in attacking roles. Coutinho played in a central role, as Liverpool’s most dangerous offensive threat and Lallana and Ibe attacked the left and right wings respectively. Overall, the attacking triumvirate had relatively quite games, mainly due to the overloaded Stoke midfield. Nevertheless, each of them played their part in our victory, and of course, the little magician delivered the piece of magic to steal the points. The Brazilian received the ball from Gomez with his back to goal, Stoke’s Sidwell close behind him, trying to suffocate the playmaker’s space. Despite Sidwell’s best efforts, however, he couldn’t stop our number 10 from pivoting, el magico displaying great strength and determination. After rolling the Stoke midfielder, Coutinho took a couple of touches and set himself up for an unbelievable strike, finessing and curling the ball into the top corner. However, it was not only his goal which symbolised Coutinho taking control of the match, with the attacking midfielder showing authority in the final twenty minutes and also linking up well with Christian Benteke throughout the game.
Coutinho was not the only Brazilian to feature for Liverpool, with Roberto Firmino – signed from Hoffenheim – featuring latterly. Despite a lack of match fitness, the Brazil international looked composed when in possession of the ball and with a bit of fortune will be able to emulate the performances of his national team-mate for the reds. With regards to new signings, Christian Benteke also had a decent debut, making his presence felt and making a number of intelligent runs. It was promising to see Liverpool’s measured approach toward utilising Benteke’s strengths: the team attempted to find him with searching balls but, these tended to be telegraphed and delivered from appropriate areas of the pitch; the players refrained from aimlessly hammering the ball into Stokes half.
Overall, it was a satisfactory beginning to the season, with three points accumulated, no goals conceded and a wonder strike from Coutinho. It was not the most exciting game and the squad will undoubtedly produce better performances and score more goals as the season progresses and the new players settle. However, a win is a win as they say and let’s hope there are plenty of them come the end of the season.
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