Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol. Picture: ESPN/ Youtubeplaceholder image
Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol. Picture: ESPN/ Youtube | Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol. Picture: ESPN/ Youtube
Liverpool suffered a 3-2 loss against Brentford as they slumped to a fourth successive defeat in the Premier League.
Steve Nicol has insisted that Arne Slot cannot cop all of the blame for Liverpool’s dire form and the players must also take responsibility.
It leaves Liverpool four points adrift of leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand, and the chances of defending the title look slim. The Reds have still to click after a significant squad overhaul in the summer transfer window, with circa £450 million spent.
The latest defeat means that Slot has come under more scrutiny as he struggles to find a formula to get the best out of his squad, while they have been shaky defensively.
Nicol, speaking on ESPN, called Liverpool’s back four a ‘shambles’ against Brentford. And the former Reds right-back insisted only Dominik Szoboszlai and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili emerged from the defeat with any credit.
What’s been said
Nicol, who won four league titles and the European Cup with Liverpool, said: “We talked about how it was going to be a matter of time for everyone to settle in and get to know each other and play the football - we have gone past that. Now there is a huge problem because there is absolutely nothing again about this Liverpool performance that is going to get any better.
“Again, the back line was a complete shambles, the changes that were made; Szoboszlai ends up going from midfield to right-back, Kerkez was taken off, you're shufling about in the middle of the park, you getting nothing from the front players. This is just game after game after game. The same things, the same mistakes, the same changes that don't make any difference.I'm shellshocked and I'm sure Arne Slot will be. He'll be sitting thinking: 'What do I do that I haven't done'. I don't think there is anything else he can do that he hasn't done.
“Yes, the coach takes the blame. He is the leader and has to figure out and put the pieces of the puzzle together to make it work. He's not doing that but I have do say a huge part of the problem has to be down to the players as individuals.
“I’m a little forgiving from Arne Slot because if you don’t see that start to the second half you expect, you have got to make changes. There wasn’t a player in the second half doing anything different than what they did in the first half.
“Liverpool had plenty of possession but couldn’t break them down, never looked like breaking them down. The second half you thought they’d start controlling and pushing Brentford back. It never materialised. If you’re Arne Slot, you’ve got no choice but to make changes.
“Part of that chaos is forced upon Arne Slot. When they lose at the end of the game the way they did, it looked like a schoolboy team. Just get him on, pull him in, you go there. Szoboszlai played in three different positions again but Arne Slot has got no choice because no-one is performing for him at all apart from maybe Szoboszlai and the goalkeeper. The rest are just not at the races.”
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