7 months ago
103 Neil Lennon was particularly underwhelmed by one Liverpool performance on a tough afternoon for Jurgen Klopp’s side against Crystal Palace.
Echoes of Thursday’s display against Atalanta were evident at Anfield, as Jurgen Klopp watched a lethargic and sloppy start.
Andy Robertson was perhaps the only player to start the game well, easily being Liverpool’s best player in the first half.
Of course, with Trent Alexander-Arnold back involved with the squad today, many may have expected him to start instead of Conor Bradley in the eleven.
However, the Liverpool boss kept faith with the youngster, allowing Trent a little bit more time.
And whilst Bradley was also guilty of some slack defending for Palace’s opening goal, it was Ibrahima Konate who perhaps disappointed Neil Lennon the most.
It was a fine move by Oliver Glasner’s team all round, but there were still multiple points in which a Liverpool player could make an intervention.
Lennon was covering the game for BBC Radio 5 and was also critical of Virgil van Dijk and Wataru Endo for not picking up their man, either.
Neil Lennon thought Ibrahima Konate was caught ball-watching when Liverpool conceded today
Speaking shortly after Liverpool conceded their goal, Lennon also noticed Klopp’s reaction.
He said: “I’m just looking at Jurgen Klopp’s reaction. I’m a good lip-reader, he’s gone ‘wow.’
“It’s a really good move from Palace, nine or 10 passes, cut back to Eze. Down Palace’s left-hand side, they are getting a lot of joy.
“Bradley is roaming and wandering and they have been punished. Endo is not picking up, Van Dijk is not picking up. Konate is ball-watching. It’s a wonderful goal.”
And the pundit did actually mention a problem he noticed between Konate and Bradley on the right before the latter came off at half-time following a knock to his ankle.
He added: “I think Jurgen Klopp has to make changes.
“There seems to be problems between Bradley and Konate and the space between them.
The midfield is one-paced, nice passing but there’s no dynamism. The chances have been few and far between in this first half.”
Time for Jarell Quansah to return against Atalanta on Thursday?
Of course, those changes didn’t exactly change improve things immediately in the second half.
And it will be worrying from a Liverpool perspective that Konate did look so sloppy on the ball as well, a repeat of the £36m-man‘s showing a few days ago..
Liverpool will need to start a lot sharper on Thursday when they travel to Italy if they do stand any chance of creating another historic European comeback.
And perhaps Jarell Quansah may now have a strong case to start the game.
All that being said, Graeme Souness did share one concern he had with Darwin Nunez before a ball was even kicked today.
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