You can't turn your nose up at that. To make ten changes and win at Bournemouth - where teams above us in the table this season have struggled getting points - is good going.
You've got to give the debutants credit. We isolated Josh King, not allowing Bournemouth to feed him. I was impressed by Grabban and Pugh for Bournemouth, but we were calm and collected and I felt Randall did a really good job of neutralising the threat of Gradel. I felt Bournemouth grew into the game once Kolo Toure was removed. He seemed to bring solidity and a calmness to our defence, which we lacked once he was withdrew.
I felt Danny Ward deserved a clean sheet - so much so, I was really annoyed when we conceded. That's a real positive for me. I used to get like that with Reina. He was such a good presence in between the sticks, if we'd concede late on in a 3-1 or 2-1 victory to deny him a clean sheet, I was really disgruntled. That's how I felt today. I've never felt that about Mignolet. He held everything well, made good stops. We need to be wary that it was his debut, though. We've seen players in the past show fearlessness on their debuts and impress, but given a longer run in the team, we need to be wary that he could make mistakes. Regardless, he looks a prospect.
Randall is probably the only one of the Academy graduates I'm unsure about. I felt he grew into the game after early nervousness. I wonder what he'd be like in our first-choice defence, with Lovren/Sakho beside him. Brad Smith, on the other flank, was quite similar: probably guilty of an over-eagerness in the opening stages, before shining as the game progressed. He is definitely a squad option for left-back, though. Games like today are ideal.
Joe Allen was imperious in the centre of the midfield, I felt. Maybe that's me being biased because I bloody love the man, but I felt he played really well in retaining possession, winning the ball back and linking the phases of play. His quality in the centre of the park - along with the growth of Can, arrival of Grujic and dependence of Milner - makes me think Lucas will leave in the summer. I wouldn't sell him, given the fact he's a club stalwart and is great for team bonding and morale off the pitch by all accounts, but he isn't a long-term solution anywhere on the pitch, which makes me think Klopp will cut him dry.
Other positives were Ibe and Ojo - it was great to see the former react after a spell out of the team. I worry for his future, to be honest, with Klopp openly criticising our lack of width and rumours of a bust-up with Ibe. But today he offered a lot in terms of crossing and directness, and I thought the pair of our wide men caused constant problems for Howe.
I think all the Academy graduates can come out of today with their heads held high, but Sturridge will go home happiest. After his omission from the starting line-up in midweek (which will have hurt him so much) he reacted magnificently. He'll surely be going to the Euros. Today was a great match for him, he took his goal really well and did brilliantly to lay on the opener for Firmino, too. He was full of creativity and urgency, and on another day, could have had the match-ball.