Ex-Spurs Scout: Liverpool player ratings v Tottenham – Alisson ‘outstanding,’ Diogo Jota ‘ridiculous’
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Tottenham continued their impressive start to the season with a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday 30 September, courtesy of a Joel Matip 96th-minute own goal.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were forced to play the final half an hour with nine men after Diogo Jota received his second bookable offence and joined Curtis Jones, who was shown a straight red during the first half, in the changing rooms.
Despite the numerical advantage, the score remained 1-1 after Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Son Heung-min’s strike, up until the final kick of the game when Matip turned the ball into his own net.
It was Tottenham’s first win over the Reds since the 2017/18 season and ex-Spurs scout Bryan King watched on for Tottenham News and has provided his player ratings for the opposition.
Alisson Becker – 9/10
“He was outstanding, he is a very good goalkeeper. He made some stuff look so easy, for me he ranks as one of the best shot-stoppers in the league. His general goalkeeping is excellent and he has great confidence with the ball at his feet. It must be half decent for the defenders, knowing that he is behind them.”
Joe Gomez – 6/10
“There were certain players in the Liverpool side who didn’t really give me confidence in their play, and he was one of them. He got caught out a couple of times and he tends to get tight when he is defending and he gives away free kicks, maybe it is over-eagerness.”
Virgil Van Dijk – 8/10
“I thought he played very well, he had a captain’s role. He seemed to be everywhere where the ball was in the box, clearing it, making tackles and he is always a danger on corners if he goes forward.”
Joel Matip – 7/10
“I felt sorry for him at the end, it was very unfortunate. He was a little bit at fault for the first goal too, because he let Son run off him, and fell asleep a bit there.
Andrew Robertson – 6/10
“We usually get a decent performance out of Robertson, he worked hard but I wanted a bit more out of him.”
Dominik Szoboszlai – 7/10
“He is a good player, his passing is good, he works hard. He didn’t let Liverpool down at all, he did well and was involved throughout.”
Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10
“Mac Allister was a little bit of a disappointment for me. However, he is a good player and he is going to be central for Liverpool, he has taken the Jordan Henderson role.”
Curtis Jones – 5/10
“A lot of experts have said that his foot rolled off the top of the ball, but for me, he was already aiming to go over the ball anyway. It was a reckless challenge and he could have broken Yves Bissouma’s ankle. It was unnecessary, by making that challenge he was asking for trouble “
Mohamed Salah – 7/10
“We saw flashes of brilliance and flashes of frustration from him. To get a yellow card for arguing with the referee once again showed frustration. Nonetheless, a talented player.”
Cody Gakpo – 7/10
“He is a good size, strong and gets into good positions. I bet he couldn’t believe his luck when he had his back to the goal but was still allowed to touch it and turn and shoot, surely a Tottenham player needed to get a block in or at least make a challenge, it was a cheap goal.”
Luis Diaz – 6/10
“He has got good technique, he is great on the ball. He can go inside or outside. To be fair, I thought he was onside, I never thought it was offside, it looked like he made the perfect run.”
Subsitutes
Diogo Jota – 4/10
“He got sent off after about 20 minutes. He got involved in something he shouldn’t have done, he should’ve known better. It was a ridiculous challenge for the second yellow card, it was no good for him to say he didn’t touch Destiny Udogie because he looked as though he did.”
Wataru Endo – 5/10
Ibrahima Konate – 5/10
Ryan Gravenberch – 5/10
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5/10
In other Tottenham news, King has provided his player ratings for the Spurs stars from the clash with Liverpool.