Jan Molby lauded the influence of on-loan midfielder Nuri Sahin after the Turkey international inspired a young Liverpool side to an important victory over West Brom on Wednesday night.
Anfield's Great Dane, who knows all about influencing matches from the centre of the park, was delighted to see Sahin pulling the strings and dictating the pace of the game at The Hawthorns.
And he believes the 24-year-old's decisive contribution mid-week should be rewarded with a starting berth for the Reds' trip to Norwich on Saturday.
"The performance of Nuri Sahin on Wednesday night did not come as a surprise to many of us, least of all myself," Molby wrote in his Liverpool Echo column. "I have written about the midfielder before and how much I like him as a player.
"He is starting to show us his form now and at the Hawthorns we caught glimpses of that football arrogance he plays with, which was great.
"Sahin was at the heart of a lot of what was good about Liverpool in the Capital One Cup against West Bromwich Albion.
"He deserves to start at Norwich City. He would go into my team for the weekend because we need players who can influence games."
Sahin fired the Reds' equalizer from distance before putting the finishing touches to an intricate 10-pass move to set-up a meeting with Swansea at Anfield in the fourth round.
The side was largely unchanged from the XI that secured a memorable 5-3 victory over Young Boys in Bern last Thursday and Molby is thrilled with the way the youthful outfit have displayed both character and composure during the two ties.
"What really encouraged me about the team was that they were confident in looking for those risky final passes, which would get them into dangerous positions," explained Molby.
"Barring one of two changes, it was the same side that went over to Switzerland last week and defeated Young Boys.
"And again, there was a real flow to their game. These lads have been given an opportunity and a lot of them have taken it with both hands.
"But not only did they impress everyone with their technique and skill at West Brom in midweek, but also their ability to dig in and show character.
"Brendan Rodgers was particularly pleased with the manner in which they fought back.
"The way Suso has played recently and with the confidence he has, I don't see any point in keeping him on the bench.
Meanwhile, Molby was keen to look ahead to Saturday's trip to Carrow Road with a degree of caution, pointing to manager Chris Hughton's ability to inspire his players as one of The Canaries' key strengths.
"Hughton is very much in the Paul Lambert mould of management and gets the players onside," said Molby. "He gets them working very well and he manages well, considering the limitations placed upon him.
"Norwich have had a difficult start to the season but remain a well organized side who will work as hard as anyone in the league."
"Up front, they have a real physical threat with Grant Holt and so, with Daniel Agger still a doubt, an important selection issue arises as who to partner Martin Skrtel at centre-half.
"With the current appetite for a new Liverpool, and the way he looked very comfortable on Wednesday night, I would select Sebastian Coates."
No comments:
Post a Comment