Thailand 0, Liverpool 3: Wrapping Up the Tour Comfortably

Thailand 0
Liverpool 3: Coutinho 16', Aspas 49', Gerrard 59'

Liverpool head home from their preseason tour unbeaten, easing past Thailand in difficult conditions on the strength of two second-half goals after Philippe Coutinho opened the first-half scoring with a lovely solo effort. A successful tour overall, and one from which draw plenty of positives but few concrete conclusions, especially given the terrifically awful camera coverage today. Let's run through the bullets and then all go back to bed and pretend like we've been sleeping this whole time.

• Simon Mignolet has managed to impress in each of his preseason appearances thus far, and today was no different. He made a couple of very good saves and commanded the area well, making good decisions and communicating well with his back line. We'll see what it's like when he's face with more of a challenge, but so far there's nothing to complain about with Liverpool's new number one.
• Daniel Agger and Kolo Toure continue to move forward as the first-choice central defensive pairing, and while I've got little concern about that right now, I do worry about Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique. Neither were very impressive again, and there's still nobody in the squad that looks like challenging. Martin Kelly didn't get any time today and is fresh off injury, while Andre Wisdom's shifted to center-back on what appears to be a permanent basis. A few weeks away, but both of the fullbacks need to pick it up a bit.
• Most felt similarly about Fabio Borini ahead of today's match, but I don't know that he did much convincing today. He did his typical smart running and hard working, only without much to do in front of goal. He forced a save with an awkward volley and buzzed about for most of his shift, which is going to be needed in some capacity this season. Hard to see him starting when they get going for real, though, as he's not yet established a presence that's causing too many problems.
• Philippe Coutinho, on the other hand, is a wonder. His work for the opener was sublime, and while he's only operating at about 70% right now, he was the best on the pitch by some stretch. Stay forever.
• Above average stuff from Iago Aspas, Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen, and Lucas, though all were slightly sloppy at times. Aspas has shown the smart movement going forward that Liverpool have been missing with Stewart Downing on the right (but unfortunately has John Arne Riise's right foot) and had a nice finish, Gerrard was in cruise control most of the match, Allen was tidy and got himself involved further forward, and Lucas was solid if unspectacular.
• Luis Suarez was {insert comment/joke/snark about body language here}, while both Jordan Henderson and Jordon Ibe worked hard in substitute roles. Henderson was also shirtless, which didn't necessarily have any bearing on the match but is obviously worthy of a mention in hopes someone will forward along HD images of the event for the benefit of all.
• There were a host of players unused but little information about fitness concerns; most notable among the omitted were Downing and Raheem Sterling, both of whom have played plenty of minutes to this point in preseason. Also left out were Kelly, as noted, and Andre Wisdom, while Martin Skrtel and Luis Alberto got twenty and ten minutes respectively, with both doing well during their abbreviated apparances.

That's all for a very good tour for Liverpool--the results weren't overwhelming (though they've yet to concede), but between the support the club received and the chance to watch the squad take shape, the returns are encouraging enough as we enter the final weeks of the preseason. Plenty left to do, but there's not long now before Stoke visit Anfield on August 17th.

Let's hope Coutinho and company have more of this in store by the time that rolls around.