Liverpool 4 Borussia Dortmund 0: 5 things learnt

1. Dejan Lovren is the new Boss.  And a much needed one.  He took command of the defence and dared Borussia to attempt attack.  He is what we needed last season when Skrtel and Sakho doted around the field masquerading as defenders who really wanted to just score goals.  That's a bit harsh, but it's nice to be reminded what a centre back who is actually committed to playing defence looks like.  He reminds me of Carra except more athletic.

2. Coutinho is becoming Gerrardinho.  Is it just me or were some of those passes/flicks from the Brazilian very Gerrard-esque?  He's definitely been paying attention to his captain's methods of ball conveyance.  How he did not get chosen for his country for the World Cup is beyond me, but I'm glad he didn't get picked.  The time off probably did him some good.

3. Manquillo is probably already better than Glen Johnson.  No need to beat a dead horse, but me Uncle Joe is probably better than Glen Johnson.  I can't say I was impressed with Manquillo's performance even given the circumstance of just joining the club a couple of days ago, but at least he didn't turn over the ball every time he touched it.

4. We didn't need Gerrard to dictate attack.  And that is huge.  The less our captain has do on the attacking end of the pitch, the better we will be as a side.  If Sterling, Sturridge, Hendo, and Coutinho can dissect defences without the help of Stevie-G, he can concentrate on controlling the middle-third.  I don't think he'll ever be completely cut out of the picture, which nobody wants, but he's also not 26 anymore.  He has plenty of long passes and through balls in store. Though the only stat that should matter to him at this point in his career is league titles. Glory over goals.

5. Aubameyang was playing? The 25-year-old Gabonese striker was invisible today at Anfield.  He scored 13 goals in 26 league matches after coming over from AS Saint Etienne.  In France, he was finally coming into his own, scoring 35 goals in his last two seasons there.  I thought he might be a player worth looking at, before today, I'd pass.  It may have been a friendly, but he was inexistent today and failed to make even the slightest impact.

Liverpool 4, Dortmund 0: A lovely little pass around

What started out with the intensity of European football, slowly drowned itself in the atmosphere of a true friendly.  Most of our side glistened save the ever turnover prone and utterly useless Glen Johnson who refuses to let the match come to him and forces error after error.  He needs to benched, sold, drawn, and quartered.  Keep him off the pitch, Rodgers, please, at least until he returns to his form of three years ago.  He doesn't play defence and it's like being a man down every time he gifts the ball to the opposition, which is entirely too often.  Opposing managers must smile every time they see him take the pitch, he is always a counter goal waiting to happen.

The passing, for the love of Xabi, was absolutely brilliant.  We picked apart their defence like the Visigoths on Rome.  Pass after scintillating pass came from the feet of Gerrard, Sturridge, Coutinho, and Sterling, who found a better form in the second half, though far from his best.  That one looping lob from Gerrard that found Sterling down the left was harken of our captain's finest displays and the entire episode leading to Sturridge's assist to Hendo was artful, though the ball did go out.

Lovren was solid in the first half, but not really needed in the second.  In fact, we could have filled the back four with Salif Diaos and it wouldn't have mattered.  Fans seems to be smitten with Manquillo's performance, but I guess harder to impres because for me, he didn't do anything spectacular.  He was adequate and far better than Glen Johnson, but so was the hot dog man, me Gran, and that baby elephant. (It even looks like Glen Johnson, don't it?)  I'll withhold a verdict until he plays in a match that matters.

The bottom line is the matches don't count until next Sunday, but if we can play as we did today, natural-like and calculating, we will win a lot of matches.  The loss of Suarez put us at an advantage of sorts, defences won't know how to stop us.  Before, if you could stop El Conejo Loco, you had a good chance of beating us, but now we are more of a team.  If you stop Sturridge, we've got Sterling, then Coutinho, then Gerrard, then Hendo and so on and so forth, and we score on set-pieces, even more now with Lovre.  That's just scary.  If we are going to win the league though, we must not let one thing beat us, ourselves.  When the opposition scores and they will at times, we must maintain composure and believe we will still win no matter the circumstance.

Javi Manquillo would be a project not a resolution

Javier Manquillo doesn't show much promise as a full back, at least not going forward.  In his few appearances in La Liga and Europe the last two seasons, The 20-year-old Atletico Madrid defender has shown to be a less-than mediocre passer, especially dreadful at specialization, and has a hard time holding on to the ball.  His career passing success average is 75.8%, nearly four points lower than the 79.6% of players in all competitions combined.  He has connected on just 1 of 24 career cross attempts, has never even attempted a throughball, and has a 30% conversion rate for long balls.  Glen Johnson, coming off a poor year by most accounts, still posted better numbers, succeeding on 5 of 51 crosses, 54.2% long balls, and was 1 for 3 on throughballs.

Manquillo can defend though.  Here are his career defence stats from Spain and Europe compared to Johnson's and Flanagan's from last season:

player	t90	tk%	int90	clr90	drby90	bs90
Manquillo	3.30	60.9	2.44	3.06	0.12	0.49
Johnson	2.29	55.9	1.79	2.54	0.82	0.29
Flanagan	3.8	45.7	1.9	3.6	1.9	0.2

Manquillo posted better all-round numbers than both of them, his tackle rate, dribble-busting ability, and shot-blocking capability are particularly outstanding.  He is also excellent in the air.  His career aerial duels success percentage is 78.9%, that's better than any LFC player last season as Skrtel was best at 70.1%.  These attributes are better-suited for a centre back, not a right back.  So if Rodgers was interested in the Spaniard to change his position, it's actually not a bad idea, but it seems far-fetched.  We don't need projects, we need immediate contributors and even spending £6m for Manquillo doesn't make much sense.

Is Micah Richards an upgrade of Glen Johnson?

Two seasons ago, Micah Richards was on top of the world.  He had helped City win their first Premiership and had worked his way back into England national team consideration.  Then injury devastated his career path and he has seen the pitch just a total of 18 times in all competitions since.

It's tragic since the 26-year-old is actually a pretty remarkable footballer.  In the last 5 seasons, he has made only 79 league appearances for 5866 minutes, equivalent to 65.2 matches, less than two full seasons.  Glen Johnson, on the other hand, has made 141 league appearances for 12267 minutes. Here's how they size up in the last five years combined:

	npg90	gc90	cc90	ap90	pass%	sacc%	shot%
Johnson	0.06	0.14	1.21	0.08	82.3	25.5	5.4
Richards	0.08	0.18	0.46	0.11	82.7	35	8.3
	intp90	clrp90	drbp90	bs90	t90	adw90	adw%
Johnson	1.89	2.41	0.73	0.26	2.51	1.32	58.6
Richards	1.64	4.71	0.52	0.51	1.92	2.90	71.1
	ccv	TTI90	gsp90	gap90	gop90	tgop	gopd
Johnson	6.7	11.6	1.94	1.09	0.95	0.66	0.29
Richards	23.3	8.05	2.02	1.03	0.99	1.42	-0.43

Micah Richards is three years younger and is in the prime of his career, so it should not be surprising that he takes 17 of 21 categories.  Glen Johnson is 29 and in decline, but the elder still seems to be a more important factor to his sides' results.

Richards will definitely have to improve on his chances created per 90 minutes if he wants to stay hold of a starting spot on Rodgers' side.  He may make up for it in nearly every other stat, but a -0.43 goals on pitch difference is a yellow flag in the least.

Richards would be an excellent addition to our club, if he could stay healthy and right now that's an unsurety.  He would probably cost at least £10m, which is a bargain if he can give us at least three productive seasons. At the right price and passing a thorough medical, Richards is the ideal signing, certainly a better choice than Bertrand.

The decline of Glen Johnson? I think not.

A recent comment spurred my interest on whether or not Glen Johnson is actually 'in decline'.  He does turn 30 years old this August, so it's probably time to start shopping for a long term replacement. Martin Kelly is unreliable with all his injury issues and I guess the jury is still out on Andre Wisdom.  It wouldn't hurt to have 3-4 players vying for the starting job.  Let's take a look at his stats from the Prem for his duration at Liverpool:

	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14
app(subs)	24(1)	28	22(1)	36	29
mins	2137	2437	1952	3226	2515
goals	3	2	1	1	1
assist	3	2	0	4	2
chances	37	28	22	47	31
gcp90	0.25	0.15	0.05	0.13	0.11
ccp90	1.6	1.03	1.01	1.31	1.11
pass%	81.6	78.5	83.9	82.2	84.1
bp%	-	-	-	44.4	45.6
sacc%	28.6	28	18.5	18.5	25
shot%	10.7	8	4.5	1.9	5
tack pm	3	2.5	1.9	2.5	2.2
tack %	-	-	-	61.3	55.9
int pm	2.4	1.7	1.9	1.6	1.7
off won pm	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.1
clear pm	2.6	2.9	1.9	3.3	2.4
dribb past pm	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.8	0.8
bs pm	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
adwon pm	0.9	1.1	0.8	1.8	1.4
adwon%	73.3	80	61.3	57.4	45
own goals	1	0	0	0	1
TTI90	13	10.9	11.2	12.3	11.9

Well, at first glance, it looks like the reports of his decline are unfounded, but he is wholly inconsistent throughout the past five seasons.  The only stat that actually declines each season is aerial duels won percentage, but he still won more aerial duels per match last season than he did 3 of the other 4.  More effort as he gets older?  That's just odd.

He did record his best pass percentage for a season last campaign and his 45.6 back pass percentage is not that bad, he is a defensive player after all.  There really isn't any clear indication of his 'decline', but do his stats hold up against some of the top right backs in Europe?

	Johnson	Debuchy	Alves	Jantschke	Beria	DeSilvestri
age	29	29	31	24	31	26
app(subs)	29	28(1)	26(1)	31	26	35
mins	2515	2492	2385	2745	2243	3082
goals	1	1	2	1	0	2
assist	2	3	3	1	0	2
chances	31	23	38	11	14	35
gcp90	0.11	0.14	0.19	0.07	0	0.06
ccp90	1.11	0.83	1.43	0.36	0.56	1.02
pass%	84.1	72.8	87.3	90.1	73.2	77.2
bp%	45.6	26.8	42.8	35.3	31.7	38.8
sacc%	25	37.1	25	42.9	30	33.3
shot%	5	2.9	6.3	14.3	0	11.1
tack pm	2.2	3.3	3	1.8	1.9	2.1
tack %	55.9	55.5	43.2	43.6	58.6	46.9
int pm	1.7	2.4	2	2.3	2.9	1.8
off won pm	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.5	0.2	0.3
clear pm	2.4	4.8	1.2	6.1	3.2	4.3
dribb past pm	0.8	0.8	1.3	0.7	0.7	0.7
bs pm	0.3	0.4	0	0.7	0.2	0.1
adwon pm	1.4	4	1.2	3.1	2.9	3.3
adwon%	45	69.7	42.7	55.2	72.1	69.5
own goals	1	1	0	0	0	0
TTI90	11.9	12.6	11.9	6.8	14	10.4

Though Johnson takes last in four major categories here, he pretty much holds his own against these guys.  Dani Alves, who is certainly one of, if not the, best right backs in the game is by far the best on attack, but woeful on defense.  He tied for or was worst in 7 of the 9 defensive categories, but took 5 of 9 on the attacking end.  Talk about bipolar.

Tony Jantschke of Borussia Mönchengladbach is probably the most impressive of the group, his lack of chances created appear to be hindered by his exclusion from the Gladbach attack.  Why that is I have no idea, maybe he likes playing defense, he certainly excels at it, but his passing is on point (without having to back pass much I might add) and his shot selection is the best of this group.  Maybe Rodgers should bring him in so his centre backs can go forward when they get bored, he doesn't seem to mind staying back and he's valued at a meager £5m.

The bottom line is Johnson still looks to have a couple of more seasons left in him.  Bringing another right back in may prolong Johnson's career, but he also might look to leave and get more playing time at a smaller club.  Unless we are going to bring in a young, dynamic right back who excels on both sides of the ball and doesn't cost an arm and a donkey, why not let Kelly and Wisdom deputize for a season?

Was Glen Johnson really that bad against Italy?

There are calls for Johnson to lose his place in the England side due to his 'dismal' performance against Itay at the World Cup, but is it really warranted?  Let's compare him to Leighton Baines, who can step on a puppy and the English press would publish articles about the state of his injured foot.

	Johnson	Baines
chances created	2	2
pass %	90	93
back pass %	36.2	50
tackles	3	2
tackle %	40	33
fouls	1	0
interceptions	0	2
blocked shots	0	0
clearances	0	0
dribbled past	1	1
key passes	2	2
true turnover index	9	4

This is a great example of how my 'true turnover index' can be skewed, especially when it comes to defenders.  Glen Johnson has a higher TTI simply because he had more possession of the ball.  He possessed the ball 15 more times than Baines and England's attack was 15% more from Johnson's side of the pitch.  Of course, that doesn't excuse bad shot selection.

Defensively, Johnson did little if nothing, but he also had less opportunity than Baines.  Italy's attack was more focused on the right side of pitch than the left, 38% to 27%.  He did have more tackles and a higher tackle % though, despite Baines' 2 interceptions.

Where Johnson is clearly better is passing.  Baines had the higher passing percentage, but half of his passes were toward his own goal, which is really not a good thing when you are a left back.  Johnson's 36.2% back pass rating is outstanding to say the least, especially paired with his 90% success rate, but his attacking abilities have never really been questioned.

The bottom line is, if Johnson should be dropped, so should Baines and probably most of the first team for that matter as really only Sturridge put on an outstanding performance.  He never has been and never will be a top class defender, but he is an above average attacking right back.