Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)placeholder image
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Liverpool have lost nine of their previous 12 games in all competitions and they trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by 12 points.
Liverpool’s vulnerabilities from set-pieces have been slammed as ‘malpractice’ by an owner of an EFL club.
The Reds’ hopes of defending the Premier League title are over before December amid a horrendous run of results. They are 11 points behind leaders Arsenal and have lost nine of their past 12 games in all competitions, with pressure mounting on head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool have conceded 20 goals in 12 league games so far and have particularly struggled defending corners and free-kicks. In last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at Anfield, the visitors opened the scoring through Murillo from a dead ball after the Reds had dominated the opening 30 minutes of the encounter.
Darragh MacAnthony, chairman and owner of League One side Peterborough United, believes that Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group would be within their right to scrutinise Slot on the issues his side are facing from dead balls. The Irishman said he had the same problem with his former manager Darren Ferguson before making a change in the Posh hot seat last month.
What’s been said
Speaking on his podcast The Hard Truth, MacAntony - a lifelong Liverpool fan - said: “Defensively, they’re horrible from set-pieces. That is when you can question your coach. Forget recruitment, forget everything else, if you’re the owner and bottom of the league for set-pieces conceded, it’s not improving and is still a problem, you can pull your coach up and say: ‘Hey, we are three months in and it’s the same’. I had the same with the previous management and my stick always was that it’s not improving. This is coaching malpractice if it’s the same every week.
“If those things keep happening, you have to shine your light on the coach and go: ‘Why isn’t that improving?’ Forest scored a goal where their player won the first header, the ball dropped, he swivelled and shot. Why is he free, why did they win the first header? You’ve got players who were good at set-pieces last year, what’s different? Forest were really comfortable for that win. Houston, we have a problem. The problem is now that we might not qualify for the Champions League, which is worse than (not challenging for) the league title for the owners because of the money. I don’t know the answer, he needs to do something different.”
Isak frustrations
MacAnthony also spoke of his frustration at the length of time Alexander Isak is taking to build fitness. The striker arrived at Anfield on summer transfer deadline day for a British record fee of £125 million. However, he missed the majority of pre-season as he trained alone at Newcastle United in his pursuit of a switch to Merseyside.
But some three months after his move, MacAnthony reckons excuses for Isak not being up to speed can no longer be made. He added: “Isak, I’m sick of hearing commentators when he’s substituted saying he’s still getting up to scratch fitness wide. We are nearly in December, you bought him at the end of August. You’re 2-0 down against Nottingham Forest and taking off your £120m striker who didn’t do anything.”
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