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The end of the transfer window coming so close on the heels of August’s final Liverpool match served as a brief distraction from events on the pitch. A distraction from the West Ham debacle. Now, though, in the midst of an international break, it’s time to reflect back on the first month of the 2015-16 season, and we want you to decide who Liverpool’s best performer was.
It was a very up and down August for the club. The first three games saw Liverpool get the right results but in ways that looked a touch unsustainable if you scrutinised beyond the scoreline. The big question, then, was whether it was a case of all that matters being the results, or if the results were instead covering up the same sorts of problems that plagued Brendan Rodgers’ side last season.
Being hammered at home by West Ham would seem to hint at the latter, but with the team now set, fans will have to hope it was a blip—a one-off—and that in September the club can build on the seven points they’ve earned. If it’s not and they can’t, then victories over Stoke and Bournemouth and a hard-fought draw with Arsenal could end up looking like something of a false dawn.
As was the case last season, for determining player of the month we look at the community post-match rankings for each game played. Man of the Match is given five points, the runner up is given four, and that carries on to the player rated fifth best, who gets a single point. This is used to determine the monthly finalists, but then it’s up to you to decide which player was Liverpool’s top performer.
In August, that may not be a very difficult choice. That’s because, over the four games, Liverpool Offside readers named one player Man of the Match three times and second best once. That player was Nathaniel Clyne, who earned 19 points of a possible 20 in post-match rankings in August and seems the clear favourite to run away with Player of the Month honours now.
Behind him, there was little consensus as to who Liverpool’s other top performers were. Philippe Coutinho and Christian Benteke both earned six points, being rated in the top five in two of August’s matches. Alberto Moreno also rated in the top five twice, turning a pair of strong cameos into five points. Next best were Martin Skrtel and Danny Ings, who finished runners up once each and got four points.
More interesting than who wins the vote, then, may be how the rest of the finalists sort out. In any case, leave your vote to let us know how you saw things, and at the end of the season the monthly rankings will be used to help determine Liverpool’s player of the season.
