Ending my brief hiatus to sum up my thoughts on the game vs Arsenal.

Couldn't have asked for a better results on opening day despite Moreno's nightmare first half.

We did ship 3 goals but whilst the first was due to Moreno's lack of positioning, the second was down to the brilliant of the Ox. We should have done better with the third though. Still, I felt the new pairing of Lovren and Klavan was pretty solid. The latter in particular impressed me. He made intelligent decisions on the ball, clearing it or bringing it up the pitch defending on circumstances. Let's not forget he was signed as backup and at just $ 4 million pounds, looks to be a bargain if preseason is anything to go by. If he keeps up this from, he's an upgrade from Skrtel and Toure.

I have a soft spot for Lallana and he reminds me a little of Luis Garcia or even Harry Kewell, brilliant when on song, and rubbish when he isn't. Whilst opinions on his ability are divided, there's no questioning his effort. He covers a lot of ground during every match and he shows leadership qualities as evident against Arsenal when we has captured on camera rallying the team as we went behind. I think he has good movement and is capable of making some intelligent passes, they are just too far and few in between. May not be good enough to be  regular starter but he's certainly a useful squad player and he doesn't demand first team football week in, week out.

Whilst Coutino deservedly received the plaudits, it was Mane who impressed me the most. Quick, composed and a bundle of energy. He was arguably our best player during preseason and is on his way to justifying his price tag.

Question is, with the number of midfielders we have in the squad, where does Jordan Henderson fit into all this? As club captain, it's conceivable to believe that he will start most games when fit but we also have Wjynaldum, Can and Grujic on our books and let's not forget Milner and Lallana can play in the middle as well.