How Liverpool’s players were rated by the ECHO this season with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alisson Becker and Alexander Isak causing a stir
Finally, it’s over. And while Liverpool left an awful lot to be desired with their performances, there was at the very least some solace in achieving Champions League qualification for the third successive season – a feat only Arsenal and Manchester City can match in the Premier League at present.
But the reality is it was a hugely disappointing campaign with so many individuals struggling to get anywhere near their best for a variety of reasons, while the difficulties of most of the new signings adjusting to new roles and methods was also painfully apparent.
The ECHO rated Liverpool’s squad throughout the 57 games they played in all competitions this season, marking them out of 10 for every appearance in which they played for at least 15 minutes.
Buckle up, people. It might get a bit ugly.
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The men who have impressed
Dominik Szoboszlai (average rating 6.92) was by some distance Liverpool’s best performer although there were a few understandable missteps towards the end of a tiring campaign in which the Hungarian played in multiple positions.
If that was no surprise, there will be eyebrows raised at Rio Ngumoha (6.75) being named second in the list with his rating taken from 20 scoring appearances. The 17-year-old winger has a big future ahead of him.
While Alisson Becker (6.69) is no longer at his peak, the Brazilian goalkeeper demonstrated his value whenever available. The problem, of course, is that wasn’t often enough in a season plagued by hamstring issues.
Florian Wirtz (6.63) very much had a campaign of patches, with his most profitable spell coming during the winter after his adaptation was complete. A couple of injuries in the last few months knocked him back, though.
Andy Robertson (6.44) was no longer first choice at left-back but did more than enough when called upon, while on the other flank there will be thoughts of what might have been but for the serious injury suffered by Conor Bradley (6.43) in January.
Similar to Szoboszlai, the mark of Virgil van Dijk (6.40) was dragged down by the sheer fatigue of being called upon in almost every game this season, while Giorgi Mamardashvili (6.40) was steady enough when required between the sticks.
Best of the rest
Hugo Ekitike (6.34) had to shoulder much more of the attacking burden than may have been expected and that was beginning to show before his serious season-ending Achilles injury in April.
Curtis Jones (6.28) flitted in and out of the starting line-up but contributed consistently well, notably at right-back during the closing weeks of the season.
Ryan Gravenberch (6.24) experienced a testing time in a midfield that rarely appeared settled with few performances standing out, particularly during the last few months.
Joe Gomez (6.22) had a respectable enough campaign when selected and while Jeremie Frimpong (6.16) had a purple patch on returning from his second spell out injured in December, he rarely looked anything like that when later back from a third time on the sidelines.
The departing Mohamed Salah (6.14) was simply nowhere near the high standards he had set during the previous eight years at Liverpool despite still ending with 22 goal contributions in 41 games, and Cody Gakpo (6.10) struggled to replicate last season’s form and unfairly became a scapegoat for some supporters.
Ibrahima Konate (6.10) and Milos Kerkez (6.05) both had much better second halves to the season than the first, although the latter did begin to struggle to keep up with such an arduous campaign during the closing weeks.
Must do better
Time may well reveal exactly why Alexis Mac Allister (5.93) suffered such a remarkable decline in form over the season with very, very few high points, despite the vague threat of a revival in February. Injury alone cannot suffice as he featured in all bar two games.
Federico Chiesa (5.76) began the season with some strong cameos from the bench but that he made only five starts from 36 outings tells its own story. And everything has already been said about the dismal campaign of Alexander Isak (5.65). Surely next season will be better for the unlucky Swede.
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