Stevie hails Mario and Moreno impacts
They have only been Liverpool players for a matter of days and weeks, but Mario Balotelli and Alberto Moreno were the subjects of significant praise from captain Steven Gerrard on Sunday.
The No.8 was speaking immediately after the pair of summer signings had helped the Reds to a fine 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in the Barclays Premier League.
On his debut, Balotelli dovetailed with Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge in a fluid attack that caused innumerable issues for the Londoners, and perhaps should have scored at least once.
Moreno, meanwhile, did find the target, and spectacularly so. The Spanish full-back's effort - smashed into the bottom corner after a surge down the wing - was the side's third and perfectly sealed the result.
"I'm just glad we got the signing over the line because I had watched him quite a bit for Sevilla," Gerrard told Liverpoolfc.com of the defender.
"I had watched YouTube clips of him and I knew he was a flier, quick and very aggressive with and without the ball.
"He showed his aggression with the ball today with a terrific run and the finish at the end of it was just pure quality. If a Real Madrid or Barcelona player did that, everybody would be getting carried away. Give him credit - that was a top goal."
With Javier Manquillo and Mamadou Sakho also coming into the starting line-up against Spurs, Gerrard was delighted with the strength in depth on display in the capital.
He continued: "To be competitive in this league and in the cup competitions you certainly have to have two good players in every position.
"We had a couple of injuries after Manchester City, but Mario got a start and I thought he was terrific for an hour, and Sakho - we got a clean sheet so credit to him.
"And I thought Moreno was terrific. We ticked a lot of boxes today, individually and as a team, and that's all we can do.
"Especially going into international duty, it's always a tricky fixture. To come here and dominate, win 3-0 with a clean sheet and it could have been an awful lot more, I'm very happy."
Balotelli featured for an hour at Tottenham, just six days after completing his transfer from AC Milan to become Brendan Rodgers' ninth new recruit of the window.
Gerrard witnessed enough in 60 minutes to anticipate more from the striker and predicted that the Italian international will be taken aback by the level of support fans will provide.
"With all due respect to Manchester City and AC Milan, Mario is going to get a different kind of support here," added the skipper.
"These are the best fans in the world and traditionally they always get behind our strikers. I've told him it's there for him.
"If he plays well and works hard for these supporters, they'll get behind him. He won't have experienced support like that he's about to get.
"He's a big, strong lad. He held it up terrifically well. All eyes were on him today and I thought he was a terrific team player. He did a lot of ugly work for the team and showed some really good touches.
"You've got to remember that he's only had three lots of 45 minutes in pre-season, so with game time and getting used to the manager and players around him, he's going to be a terrific player for us."
While many of his teammates will now depart for international commitments, Gerrard's retirement from England duty earlier in the year allows the midfielder some helpful downtime.
"I could put all of my focus and effort, everything, into today's game," he concluded. "I'm happy with the way it went for the team and I.
"Now I can go and have some time with my family; I haven't done that since I was 18 so I'm going to enjoy it."