1 year ago
298 Gary Neville has shared what surprised him about Liverpool after watching the Reds open their Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.
Neville was speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast after Jurgen Klopp’s side left Stamford Bridge with a point after a mixed performance.
Liverpool started brilliantly. Luis Diaz gave them the lead after an outstanding move from the visitors. And they thought they had scored a second before Mo Salah’s effort was ruled out.
However, Chelsea definitely grew into the game. They did equalise. And they had a goal of their own ruled out for offside. It was certainly Mauricio Pochettino’s side who looked more likely to score after Liverpool initially flew out of the blocks.
Neville left surprised by Liverpool after Chelsea draw
Neville noted that the Liverpool backline was the area of the field which boasted the most familiarity. And with that, he could not understand why they seemed to struggle so much in the game.
“What still surprises me for Liverpool is that that is the most settled back five in the Premier League,” he told The Gary Neville Podcast.
“I don’t know how many games they’ve played together. And yet, they still don’t look like a world-class group. And they are a world-class group individually. If you look at them, you wouldn’t swap any of them – maybe Konate – but the other three are outstanding, the goalkeeper’s fantastic.
“So that’s still a surprise when I watch Liverpool, how many chances they concede.”
The game did highlight the importance of Liverpool signing another holding midfielder before the window closes. Alexis Mac Allister was outstanding in the early stages. But Chelsea definitely started to win the midfield battle before too long.
Like Neville says, Liverpool have so many world-class players. But in previous years, every player in the squad appeared to fit absolutely perfectly into their role because of the others around them.
Liverpool do not quite have that balance in the middle of the park now that the likes of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner have moved on.
The good news is that the transfer window is still open for a couple of weeks. So the Reds have the opportunity to make changes.
But whether they will be able to sign that world-class midfielder before the deadline is another story.
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