Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)placeholder image
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool were eliminated from the Champions League at the hands of PSG and turn their attention to Everton.
Stephen Warnock questioned the decision to start Alexander Isak as Liverpool’s were eliminated from the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
The Reds went into the quarter-final second leg at Anfield trailing 2-0 after last week’s loss in the French capital. Arne Slot opted to take a gamble by handing Isak an opportunity from the outset. It was his first start in four months having recently recovered from a broken leg. He had made two fleeting substitute cameos in the first leg against PSG and 2-0 win over Fulham.
Isak managed just five touches of the ball in the first half before being substituted at half-time. Liverpool suffered a 2-0 loss, with Ousmane Dembele at the double in the second period for PSG.
Isak, signed for a British record fee of £125 million in the summer transfer window, has endured a frustrating maiden campaign on Merseyside. He arrived well short of match fitness, having spent much of the summer training alone at Newcastle United, before his serious injury halted momentum.
And former Liverpool left-back Warnock felt Isak was never going to make an impact against PSG. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “I don't know what to say about Alexander Isak. I watched him here against Fulham and he was awful.
“He was non-existent here tonight. He didn't want to get any physical contact alongside Marquinhos. He was sort of wanting to bump into him. There was no wanting to build a platform for his team to get onto the ball.
“Cody Gakpo did more in five minutes than Isak did in the whole first half. He is not fit. He is nowhere near fit. That's partly due to the injury he sustained against Tottenham, but sitting out pre-season, he has not got one ounce of fitness in him this season and it tells.
“And you think you can put him against PSG, in your biggest game of the season against the best team in Europe and think you get a performance in 45 minutes. You can't just switch it on and off.”
Liverpool’s exit from the Champions League means that they will end the season trophyless. Their Premier League title defence has been meek and they face a battle to qualify for next campaign’s Champions League. Currently sitting fifth, the Reds now turn their attention to facing Everton in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.
Warnock reckons that the Toffees, who are eighth and in pursuit of Europe, are the favourites ahead of the showdown. He added: “Looking forward to Sunday, I look at that forward line and think will Arne Slot go for Rio Ngumoha?
“Will Ngumoha's confidence have been hit tonight? Gakpo, possibly through the middle. Mo Salah will probably play on the right-hand-side, and it is going to be fascinating. Liverpool go into that game as underdogs. It is not often we go into a Merseyside derby that way.”
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