Clyne thrilled with Liverpool’s defensive work

A “grey area” surrounding the new offside rule cost Bournemouth their first Premier League points on Monday, according to the promoted side’s manager Eddie Howe.

The “Cherries” then found themselves behind midway through the first half thanks to Christian Benteke’s goal, which could also have been ruled out with Philippe Coutinho in an offside position.

Under the new rules, interfering with an opponent means: means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movement or challenging an opponent for the ball.

“But ultimately the performances and the general aspects of our play have been very good”.

“It was important for me on my debut at Anfield to score and help the team win“, he said.

Their sense of injustice was heightened when an offside Coutinho motioned towards the ball as Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson’s inswinging cross bounced beyond him and was prodded home from inside the six-yard box by Benteke.

“I think you’ve seen all the facets of his game“. The officials have a split second to make a decision so I respect that and the challenge that their job brings.

Captain Tommy Elphick powered a header home from a corner, but was adjudged to have fouled Dejan Lovren in the process.

“The ball’s come in and maybe been cleared out, but because of his physicality and his contact, he keeps the ball alive in a risky area of the field”. We have seen that already. Hopefully the bigger picture is it gives the players confidence they can succeed at this level, we can play our style of football and still be successful. Until I speak to Mike [Riley] I don’t think it’s fair for me to comment.

That goal threat was on display again in the closing stages, but Benteke could only hit the crossbar from Nathaniel Clyne’s cross.

“There’s a lot of work going on, we have to improve on our defensive qualities and we showed today that we can be solid in defense”, Clyne told Liverpoolfc.com.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis, speaking earlier in the summer, claimed that the new offside changes “muddy the waters even more“.

“We knew it’d be tough against a team that have just come up”, Milner said.

With pressure on Brendan Rodgers after a poor season past year, his club have an ideal chance to start with two wins for only the fifth time in the Premier League era. The players are winners and this is an experience we don’t want to get used to.