Gary Neville has hit out at the Mirror for an article they penned in which they claimed Liverpool players are frustrated with Mo Salah.
Below, you’ll see their piece and the Sky Sports pundit’s response on Twitter:
Wrong interpretation of my comments completely!
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) February 8, 2021
In fairness, Neville is right to be annoyed, as his analysis was spot on and nowhere near as simplistic as the headline suggested.
“This is a place where they’ve been invincible for so long and you’ve just never seen Liverpool anything other than positive here,” he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
“They just are really tentative. They’re playing extra passes, they’re not being as direct in their attacking.
“Liverpool’s team over the past three years have been breathtaking but they played with risk all the time.
“Salah…how many times does he give it away in the opposing half of the pitch where he tries to beat people?
“It’s frustrating. You see the rest of his team-mates frustrated. Mane as well, Firmino.
“The direct passes into them are not there. The risk is in their game isn’t there. The running in their game isn’t there. And things aren’t falling for them.
“They’ve had injuries. They’ve had a few years going for it at full pelt, the strange season that we’ve had, a number of things can actually just happen at once and it just feels like the perfect storm in terms of what’s happening at Liverpool.”
The point Neville is trying to make is that it’s OK for Salah to take risks – and that this is what our success has been built upon – and that offensively – we simply haven’t been brave over the past six weeks.
It’s true. When you watched us against Manchester City, there were plenty of times we won the ball high up the field and then simply recycled the ball back to the defenders to monotonously pass it between themselves for a few minutes.
It’s not what Liverpool are and doesn’t suit us. The lads will have our full support on Saturday of course against Leicester City and we’re backing them to find some form again.