Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been criticised for failing to bring Alexander Isak off the bench despite needing goals in their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
The Reds were thrashed by the Citizens on Sunday with goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku putting Arne Slot’s men to the sword.
There was no shortage of controversy, though, with Slot insisting his side’s disallowed goal at 1-0 should have stood with the game changing on that decision.
Liverpool are now eight points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal with the defeat at the Etihad Stadium the Reds’ fifth in 11 league matches.
Many of Liverpool’s summer signings have been disappointing this season, none more so than Isak, but it was a surprise to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook that Slot didn’t bring the former Newcastle United star off the bench.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Crook said: “I find it bizarre, Sam. This is the most expensive player in the history of English football.
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“Surely he can’t be so unfit, Alexander Isak. I know he’s just back from injury, but they’re chasing a game, Liverpool.
“They’ve been chasing it basically from the first minute because City have been so dominant and he’s not brought him on. I mean, how can you?
“I know he didn’t train with Newcastle in the summer, but how as a professional athlete in 2025 can you enable yourself to get so unfit that your manager can’t bring you on in a game of this magnitude?”
Roy Keane thinks winning the Premier League title this season is now a distant dream for Liverpool after their loss to City at the Etihad Stadium.
And former Manchester United captain Keane picked out Ibrahima Konate as a “nervous wreck” against the Citizens on Sunday.
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Keane said on Sky Sports: “At this moment in time you can’t be considering Liverpool for the Premier League title, that’s five losses now.
“I think it is crisis time for Liverpool, to lose seven in ten with five league losses this season, it has to be a crisis for a team like Liverpool.
“Defensively they are all over the place. The full-backs are a huge problem, the centre-half [Ibrahima Konate] looks a nervous wreck.
“You watch players dangling their legs, it’s not what champions do. Put your body on the line.
“If you are not at it as a team and are a little bit off get the basics right, stopping crosses and being difficult to play against.
“From Liverpool’s point of view, how badly do they want it?”