How Liverpool’s players have been rated by the ECHO so far this season with Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Alexander Isak causing a stir
Well, it may not be pretty to watch but at least the results have got a bit better. Liverpool are making slow but steady progress in both the Premier League and Champions League even if the performances of Arne Slot’s side have overall left something to be desired.
And that is very much prevalent in how so many individuals have struggled to get anywhere near their best for a variety of reasons, with the initial difficulties of most of the new signings adjusting to new roles and methods having been apparent.
The ECHO has rated Liverpool’s squad throughout the 29 games they have played in all competitions this season, marking them out of 10 for every appearance in which they played for at least 15 minutes.
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The men who have impressed
Dominik Szoboszlai (average score 7.08) has consistently been the best performer this season since the opening weeks, although he has temporarily dropped a level since returning from suspension last week.
Alisson Becker (6.58) has remained a steady performer without really having been compelled to make too many outstanding saves. Fulham’s late equaliser at the weekend was typical of the fact most of the goals the Brazilian has conceded this term have had little do with any shortcoming on his part.
Florian Wirtz (6.56) understandably took a while to settle but has shown in the last two months the kind of impact Liverpool committed £116million to spending on last summer, while Hugo Ekitike (6.42) is another close-season arrival who has stepped up, most notably during December.
Ryan Gravenberch (6.41) hasn’t quite been as consistently impressive as during the title victory but is another whose elevated form has helped the Reds on their recent unbeaten run.
Best of the rest
Curtis Jones (6.40) has featured in some part in almost every game this season, helped by his versatility. But his emergence as a pure central midfielder has been a welcome bonus for Slot of late.
The injury problems of Joe Gomez (6.40) have robbed Liverpool of a strong option with the defender having performed well whenever available and included.
Conor Bradley (6.35) is another whose season has been hampered, if not to the same degree, by fitness concerns with his displays having steadily improved throughout the campaign.
Summer signing Giorgi Mamardashvili (6.30) has been solid enough when deputising for Alisson, while Virgil van Dijk (6.26) isn’t having as bad a season as some myopic observers would like the Reds skipper to have.
Andy Robertson (6.25) is very much a squad player these days and wasn’t quite as affected by the general autumn malaise as others, while Cody Ga (6.17) will hope his goal at Fulham brings more consistency to a term in which he has been too up and down.
Federico Chiesa (6.08) made a strong impact from the bench during the opening months but has since struggled to replicate that, while Mohamed Salah (6.00) hasn’t come anywhere near the form of which he is capable and will have a fight to regain his place on returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Jeremie Frimpong (6.00), meanwhile, has twice been hamstrung but has shown in the last few weeks what Liverpool have been missing in his absence.
Must do better
Ibrahima Konate (5.78) has had two shocking spells of form, but has improved considerably in the last month. Alexis Mac Allister (5.78), though, began the season poorly and remarkably has only twice scored more than a six this season – the lowest such return of any Liverpool player included in these rankings, despite 27 scoring appearances. Intriguingly, both came in the same week – in the home wins against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, the latter of whom have long been linked with the World Cup winner.
Milos Kerkez (5.65) had a bit of a rough start to life at Anfield but his average score doesn’t quite reflect an increase in performance level in recent weeks. However, the nightmare suffered by the now-injured £125m striker Alexander Isak (5.60) is very much clear in his figure.
Of those who haven’t quite played enough games so far this season to be included in the rankings, Ngumoha River (6.80) scores highly on the basis of top marks for his winner at Newcastle and Wataru Endo (5.80) hasn’t really had chance to get going.
