Joel Matip performed admirably against Chelsea but Graeme Souness and Gary Neville have differing views on his defensive display.
Joel Matip has taken to life on Merseyside very well and has put in a string of impressive displays, although, he made one mistake against Chelsea and was duly punished. He will take the experience as one he can learn from, no doubt.
Before the game against Chelsea, Matip spoke about how he didn’t give a f*ck about Diego Costa and his supposed bully mentality. This attitude was transposed to his performance as the Cameroonian centre-half was forceful and aggressive in his treatment of the Spanish forward.
While Costa may have scored and it may have been Matip’s fault, the former Schalke defender is pleased with his and Liverpool’s performance.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Matip said, “To win at Stamford Bridge is always nice and very good, it’s a good feeling.
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“We want to play like we played in the first half. We want to keep the ball, we want to play and let them run and it worked very good from the beginning. It was a nice game for us.
“When it went to 2-1 we had to fight for the victory, but we took the fight and we won.
“We have made a good start as a team and everybody helps each other so it’s good to play alongside my teammates. Everybody is happy after the win, but we will go back and concentrate on the next game.”
Matip will feel comfortable in feeling pleased with the victory, despite making the error which led to Diego Costa’s goal. Graeme Souness, on the other hand, is not happy at all with the naivety shown by Liverpool’s new signing.
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What did you make of his performance? Let us know in the comments section below.
“Why go to ground there?” Souness asked of his fellow Sky Sports pundits while on Friday Night Football. “This is not good defending. That’s something you see in Sunday league football. The minute you go to ground you’re out of the game.”
While Souness may be displeased with Matip’s ‘Sunday League-esque defending’, Gary Neville thought he did well to contain Diego Costa.
“I thought Matip and Lovren did very well. Costa never got in the game. When they did get balls up to Costa, Matip was really aggressive against him,” Neville told Sky Sports via Sport Review.
Matip will be crucial to Liverpool being defensively sound this season and I believe he will put his mistake against Chelsea behind him and get on with things.
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