Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Man City in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon - and Gary Neville has had his say
Gary Neville
Gary Neville has been speaking about Liverpool following the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday
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Gary Neville believes Liverpool looked lost against Manchester City and explained why Arne Slot should be worried about his side's lack of physicality. The Reds were comfortably beaten at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon as their poor Premier League form continued.
Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku all scored for the hosts as they ran out 3-0 winners. However, Virgil van Dijk did see a goal controversially chalked off with Pep Guardiola's side just 1-0 up.
But in a damning verdict, Neville said: "I thought it was a really, really poor performance. It was one of the worst that I've seen from a Liverpool team for a long time. It was a bit like they didn't know what to do. I think it was a worry.
"They need to basically go and have a good look at themselves, because they've hit high standards, and they're a group of players who know how to win things, and they'll know that they're nowhere near at the moment."
Before he added: "Their tempo in the game was nothing. They looked physically really, really well short in the game, they looked physically short in terms of their running, physically short in terms of actually just getting out-muscled.
"Physically I'd be worried if I was Arne Slot looking at that team, a few of them look like they can't run, and I always think that when you go on a losing streak you start to doubt everything.
"That's wrong, because obviously there are some excellent players out there with great attitudes, so it's not a time to throw the baby out with the bath water here, but Slot's going to need this next week to reflect and think about how he fixes the problems, both going forward and in defence.
Liverpool's players stand dejected following Manchester City's third and final goal at the Etihad Stadium
Liverpool's players have been criticised by Gary Neville after their defeat to Manchester City
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"They looked terrible at the back. I thought they got messed around today, I thought it looked like City could score lots of goals. They weren't good enough up front, the combinations weren't there."
Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, the former Manchester United man believes Slot has to press on with Florian Wirtz given the money they've spent on him - even though he does believe the German international has become a problem.
"Wirtz is a problem," he said. "Let's just call it as it is. It's an issue. He's £100m+, and to be fair, I said a few weeks ago [Milos] Kerkez looked like a little boy out there. Today I thought Wirtz looked like a little boy. That can't be the case.
"We've been tiptoeing around him for a few months, around the fact that he's young, he's coming to a new country, but he's £100m+, you're going to have to stand up soon.
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"He's obviously got something, he's a really good player, he's technically fantastic, but he's been mauled out there today by Matheus Nunes and by others.
"He's been chucked around the pitch, and didn't deliver on the quality side of things as well, so his performance was a real worry."
Before he concluded: "He's a Germany international of great standing, and he looks well short in respect of what you'd expect in a top physical Premier League match.
"They've got to get him up to speed, they've got to get that little bit of tenacity into him, and that little bit of something that means he'll start to get into form, because what they have to do is stick with him and persist."
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