Liverpool Player Ratings
Phillipe Coutinho - 9/10: Player of the season. 13 goals and seven assists in what amounts to about 25 games of game time is a seriously good return. Not only that but the quality of Couts' goals has been magnificent, including three free-kicks and six goals total from outside the box. Liverpool's all-round best forward has not just scored big goals, but produced some utterly masterful performances. When he plays well, Liverpool play well.
Sadio Mané - 9/10: What a debut season Sadio Mané has had. 13 goals himself, with six of those against members of the top seven, Mané has offered a constant threat, with directness, pace and serious quality. Hasn't gone three league games without scoring in his Liverpool career, and adds something unique to this team, which simply hasn't looked the same without him.
Emre Can - 8/10: I freely confess that I love Emre Can. It took him a while to get back to full fitness and into the side early on but once he did he instantly stepped up, playing vital roles in wins over Palace and Watford, turning in a top performance against Man United and man of the match in Liverpool's unfortunate defeat to Bournemouth. Despite struggling with an injury in January and February, he's been Liverpool's best player in 2017, with a string of incredible performances in March-May, including two unstoppable winning goals against Burnley and Watford.
Joel Matip - 8/10: The biggest criticism people have made about Matip is his injuries which says it all really. He's had some iffy performances in 2017 next to Klavan and Lucas, but truthfully where Matip has struggled has largely been down to organisational problems, and in terms of top performances, Matip is by far and a way Liverpool's top performing defender.
Georginio Wijnaldum - 7/10: I was very torn between 7 and 8 for Gini and Lallana. But whilst Wijnaldum produced some massive goals and performances in the back half of the season, particularly very late on but also in February and March, it took him until New Year's Eve to produce a top class performance for the club. There were too many performances where Gini went missing in smaller games early on to give him an 8, but an encouraging first season nonetheless and very much a potential fan favourite.
Adam Lallana - 7/10: Lallana has the opposite problem to Gini. Whilst he started the season like a house on fire, notching seven goals and seven assists in the 2016 half of the season, it took him until the final day of the season to add to that tally. An excellent performer in some of Liverpool's best performances this season, and certainly a large part of why they were so good, but on the other hand, a massive contributing factor in why they were so bad, when they were so bad.
Simon Mignolet - 7/10: Another player who had a strong case for scoring higher than 7, Simon Mignolet has significantly upped his game since returning to the side in December. Since April's game against Stoke, where he pulled off possibly the save of the season, he's been absolutely pivotal to Liverpool's final run in. But his start to the season underlined why he was being dropped for Karius and he's not immune from criticism in January or February either, as he made some reasonable errors across the Christmas period.
Jordan Henderson - 7/10: A recurring theme on this list is players whose seasons were blighted by injury. Hendo played as a defensive midfielder this season and after a bad start against Arsenal and Burnley, took to it like a duck to water. Easily Liverpool's most consistent player, it's hard to remember the last time he turned in a bad performance. Dictated the play well from deep.
Roberto Firmino - 7/10: This time last year, I had Bobby Firmino as my player of the year, and a player I was buzzing to see develop for Liverpool. It's been another extremely solid year for Bobby, with 11 league goals, but having played up front all year, it would have been nice to see a more productive output. When he's been good he's been sensational, but he's also been very inconsistent and blown hot and cold all year, similarly to Gini and Lallana, he's not been consistently good enough.
Divock Origi - 6/10: Down to the players that have had decent seasons, but not lived up to their potential. There's no denying that Divvy's goal return of seven goals and three assists in less than 1500 minutes is good, with five goals in his fourteen league starts, but whilst goals are a good metric for a striker, they're not the only thing that's important and for large swathes of his opportunities, Origi's all-round play hasn't been up to scratch.
Daniel Sturridge - 6/10: A season of few opportunities for Studge, limited by injuries and by team selection. Seven league starts have yielded two goals and one assist, but his general play has been solid, even he's not been able to play in his favoured position all of the time. Encouraging, but not encouraging enough.
Nathaniel Clyne - 6/10: Here's where we start to get into the controversial ones. I think Clyne's had a very solid season. Defensively he's been very solid, albeit with a few small errors here and there. In attack, Clyne hasn't been bad either. But neither has he excelled, and whilst his lack of end product has been drastically overstated, as he creates plenty of chances, he nevertheless hasn't done enough.
James Milner - 6/10: Milner is another player who's not had a bad season, especially considering how out of position he's been for the entire thing. Whilst he's been defensively susceptible at times, his attacking play has largely been good, especially in the front half of the season. His penalties have also been vital. Overall, he's not had a bad year.
Dejan Lovren - 6/10: For all the flak that Dejan Lovren gets on a weekly basis, and with much of that deserved, the simple truth is that Liverpool look a much better side defensively when he's partnering Matip. Of the nine league games he's missed this season, Liverpool have kept just one clean sheet, and whilst he's too error-prone to get a high mark, he's been surprisingly solid for large portions of the season.
Loris Karius - 6/10: Karius will get a lot of hate in post-season ratings, but in my opinion he's been treated unfairly. Whilst he made a couple of high profile errors, it was harsh to drop him, even if Mignolet absolutely vindicated that decision. Eleven goals conceded in ten games and three clean sheets across those games isn't worse than Mignolet.
Ragnar Klavan - 5/10: Klavan hasn't been significantly worse than Lovren overall, but he has been worse. Big errors have cost him a regular starting spot, and 21 goals conceded in 15 starts is really not great. Just three clean sheets in those games, all of which with Lovren steadying the ship alongside him, but it was a pairing that never looked stable.
Lucas Leiva - 5/10: I love Lucas as much as the next guy, and the wave of nostalgia around him means he will be remembered fondly. But he was a car crash at CB. Four shipped against Bournemouth, three against Leicester, and two against Hull. He was solid enough in defensive midfield in the latter stages of the season, providing the fans one or two fond moments with some good play against West Brom and Everton. But yeah. Not good.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Stokes back in action. Good news for England.
- Zabaleta on a free transfer to West Ham. Huh.
- City bringing in Bernado Silva. Yikes.
- Murray drawn against Kuznetsov at Roland Garros.
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