Liverpool have experienced a far below par start to the campaign and this culminated in a 4-1 loss away to Napoli, with Jamie Carragher singling out our defence wanting to play the opposition offside – as a key reason for the poor start.
Speaking on CBS Sport, the 44-year-old said: “People may criticise me, even Liverpool fans, because this team has had great success. But, all I’m talking about is five yard, I’m not talking about a Liverpool team retreating 10, 15, 20 yards back… It’s embarrassing. It really is.
“I said before it’s kid stuff and this is the big problem with Liverpool right now. They’ve built their success on intensity on the ball, which means the opposition can’t get the head up to put the ball over.
“So your team’s always tight. Always really compact .At times [there’s a] risk, but you get an energy on the ball, that energy is not there now, so that back four has to adapt and it has to go back three or four yards.
“That’s all we’re talking about. But if they keep playing [like that] they’re gonna have a big problem in terms of the Premier League this season and qualifying for the next round of the Champions League, because that is suicide football”.
The defensive line has been a part of Jurgen Klopp’s teams for many years now but the former defender has pointed to a lack of intensity in midfield, which is allowing opposition midfielders time and space to play a ball over the top – all whilst our defender still try to play offside.
When the opposition don’t have time to play the pass nor have a run at the defence, this high risk strategy has worked very well.
Now in the middle of the park though, we are in the midst of an injury crisis and some claim a further lack of quality on top of that – all of which is leading to a lacklustre start to the campaign.
You can watch Carragher’s thoughts on Liverpool via @CBSSportsGolazo on Twitter:
"It's the actual performances probably more than the results that is worrying me right now…"@Carra23 thinks Liverpool's high-risk style is working against them. pic.twitter.com/B8HBzY1SAA
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 7, 2022
#Ep58 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Rating Liverpool’s UCL group, making a new signing… & more!