Liverpool suffered a 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League with a club legend criticising the performance of four players in particular
Mohamed Salah (centre) and Andy Robertson (right) of Liverpool
Mohamed Salah is one of four players to be criticised after Liverpool's defeat to Bournemouth(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has criticised the performance of four players during the Reds’ defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday. The reigning Premier League champions suffered a 3-2 loss against the Cherries on their trip to the Vitality Stadium this weekend, conceding a stoppage-time goal to be handed a disappointing defeat.
Arne Slot’s side had battled back from 2-0 down to get back level in the second half thanks to goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai. However, the Reds could not hold on for the point and conceded a goal in the final minute of stoppage time from Bournemouth star Amine Adli following a goalmouth scramble in the penalty area.
Before the defeat on the south coast, Liverpool had an unbeaten run of 13 matches in all competitions but had previously drawn their last five Premier League games and are still without a win in the top flight since the turn of the year.
Nicol was critical of Liverpool’s performance against Bournemouth, naming four players in particular who caught his eye.
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen Van Dijk have a worse game in a Liverpool jersey. He was involved in all three of the goals,” Nicol said on ESPN.
“Anybody playing against Liverpool, all they need to do is put the ball in the box because it’s chaos. Nobody’s in charge, the goalkeeper’s not in charge, Van Dijk’s not in charge, nobody trusts each other, everybody’s wondering where to be. It’s just chaos.
“So you end up losing a goal like they did at the end because nobody takes charge.
“At the same time, you’ve got to look at the forward line. Mo Salah was awful today, Gakpo did nothing and Florian Wirtz must have passed the ball to a Bournemouth player more than he did to a Liverpool player.
“When you have got so much of the ball, and you’ve got to look at the midfield of Liverpool and say they gave the front three the ball as much of the ball they possibly could have wished for, and they did nothing with it.
“There was not one opportunity in this game that Liverpool created in open play where you’re saying they should have scored or hit the target or something; there was nothing. The two goals came from set pieces, Szoboszlai [was] a free-kick, Van Dijk’s [was] a corner.
“The only positive you can say is that the middle of the park gave the front players plenty of the ball and they didn’t do their job.”
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