Graeme Souness believes Liverpool’s midfield is being bullied and explained that this is why his former team experienced a slow start to the new campaign.
The FA Cup champions were stunned at Anfield last night when they were beaten 2-1 by Leeds United and the result left them ninth in the table having won just four of their first 12 league games.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted “something’s not right” this season for the Reds, but former Kop icon Souness thinks he knows what the problem is.
“Liverpool is a mile away from what it was in recent years,” he told talkSPORT.
“They don’t play with the same intensity. I think in many cases tonight Leeds more than lived up to what Liverpool have been doing to teams for years.
“Liverpool used to intimidate teams, their midfield intimidated teams. And now they are being bullied.
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“They still had enough chances to win the game, the man of the match is a goalkeeper (Meslier), that tells the story.
“Liverpool is not like the team we have seen in the last five years. They just don’t have the same intensity. They don’t have it on their legs anymore.”
Many Liverpool fans were left frustrated in the summer when Jurgen Klopp failed to sign an elite midfielder.
Exciting youngster Fabio Carvalho arrived from Fulham and Arthur Melo signed for the club on loan from Juventus on deadline day, but many predicted the club’s current midfield option was not strong enough to challenge once. more on all four fronts like we did last season.
We still have a lot of quality in the middle of the park, but with players out of shape and a number of injuries to deal with, we have struggled to be consistent.
Harvey Elliott may be impressing this season as he continues to show he has a promising career ahead of him, but we can’t rely on a 19-year-old to lead the team every week.
Souness is sticking by his statement from the start of the campaign which saw him suggest that our current options in midfield will not win the club’s big trophies this season.
He added: “I think when you look at midfield. Thiago 31, Henderson 31, Fabinho 29. And after that you have Keita who is about 27 years old, you have Oxlade-Chamberlain who is out and injured at 29.
“You have Curtis Jones, who is 21, and the other young player who started tonight, Harvey Elliott, is 19.
“Going back to the start of the season, Jurgen said his midfield felt vulnerable due to the age of the group and the chance of injury.
“We know it’s a very tough league to play in and sometimes it’s a long nine months, so expecting the two youngsters to come in and help you out for most of the season is a big ask.
“I’ve said it since the beginning of the season, the midfield they have now is no longer the midfield that is going to win them the big trophies.”
Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham is repeatedly linked with a move to Merseyside, but with him continuing to impress in both the Bundesliga and Champions League, we’re certainly not the only club chasing the England international’s signature.
It will be interesting to see if the club sign someone in January because at the moment it seems that they have no other option.
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