Back from Adelaide. Had a good (but short!) time. Thanks to those who gave suggestions as to what to do. Went to Glenelg, which was great, before checking out the city and heading to the match. Happy that I finally got to see Adelaide Oval and thought it looked extra fantastic given that it was full of Liverpool supporters! Pretty congested bridge on the walk back after the game though, haha!
On to the game itself, I thought we were decent without being anything special and were generally in control of proceedings. I guess it should be remembered that in not having Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino, we are currently playing without three components of what is likely to be our first-choice attack (four if you include Benteke). And Can is likely to feature heavily in either midfield or defence as well. So it's hard to draw too many conclusions. But some thoughts:
- Would have liked to have seen more of Markovic, and am surprised with how little we have seen of him so far. In fact, given the size of the squad we brought out here, I don't really understand why we haven't used more of it.
- Ibe looks very promising, but needs to work on some of his decision-making, which will hopefully come with time. I think he needs to be a bit more selfish with the ball at his feet, such as shooting every now and then when he is within range. Having said that, he would be hard to defend and some of the link-up play between he and Clyne (and Origi at times) was very good and something that could be a strength for us this season.
- I thought that Gomez put in another strong showing. I said it after the last game and I know it is only pre-season against vastly inferior opposition but he looks extremely talented, one of those players that despite his age, looks and plays like he has been around for years. Early days but the signs are really promising.
- Ings took his goal well, a nice striker's goal.
- Origi needs a loan for the season, ideally to another Premier League side. Very raw and doesn't quite look like he belongs just yet.
- Milner has been great so far and his experience and mentality as well as his quality will be very useful for us.
- We all know that Henderson works hard but, when you are at the game, you gain an appreciation for the huge amount of ground that he covers.
- Noticed that Sean O'Driscoll wasn't on the bench (and apparently he wasn't on the bench against Brisbane either). Anyone know what is going on there?
Overall, an enjoyable Adelaide experience and a good start to pre-season for the club.