Roy Keane Puts Blame for Consistent Liverpool Shortcomings on Just a 'Couple of Players'
Ex-Manchester United captain turned television pundit Roy Keane has suggested that Liverpool's continued shortcomings are down to just a 'couple of players' whose consistently infuriating mistakes keep holding the whole team back.
The Reds allowed a three-goal lead to slip in the Champions League this week, potentially putting the club's place in the knockout rounds in jeopardy if results go against on match day six.
The Daily Telegraph called it 'brainless defending' against Sevilla, while Liverpool's domestic record is not much better, with only six clubs in the Premier League conceding more often.
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Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson wanted to divert attention from the under fire defence after the 3-3 draw, pulling responsibility onto the whole team.
"We didn't play as much as football as we should have. The biggest thing for us was that we stopped playing, stopped getting the ball up to the front three. They were getting it back cheaply and it invites pressure," he said after the final whistle.
But, for Keane, speaking on Wednesday night during ITV's Champions League highlights show covering all the week's action, it really is as simple as picking out a pair of sub-par individuals.
"You can over-analyse it, but when you have one or two players who aren't good defenders, they will have trouble in the big matches," he said.
“Liverpool will win a lot of matches. [But] when it comes to the big games and tough games, they have a couple of defenders who aren't good enough and it is as simple that. They keep making the same mistakes."
Keane's assessment seemingly takes any blame away from manager Jurgen Klopp for his tactical choices and coaching. And although he stopped short of naming names, it seems perfectly clear that the 46-year-old was talking about Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno.
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"It's not to do with team shape or mentality, but if you have a couple of players who aren't good enough at this level, they will be found out," he added.
On Monday, Klopp perhaps unwisely claimed to be stunned by Moreno's apparent turnaround after a poor 2016/17 season in which he was deemed not good enough to play in his own position ahead of stand-in left-back James Milner.
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"I never had something like this. I never had it to be honest. How he reacted on last year is really, really good. He's now a much better defender. That's how it is; he's a brilliant footballer," the boss had said just a day before the collapse in Spain.
