Michael Owen has criticised Joe Gomez for the centre-half’s involvement in Porto’s consolation goal in the second-half.
The Englishman had been brought on for deputising fullback James Milner and was deemed to be at fault for Mehdi Taremi’s headed effort.
“He should have [done better]. Once he got the wrong side of him, there’s no way back – certainly with a centre-forward of that size,” the former Red told BT Sport (via HITC). “If you get the wrong side, you’re pinned and you’re a goner. He [Gomez] squeezed out on the wrong side.”
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool outfit secured an impressive 5-1 victory regardless; a result that saw the side hold on to their spot at the top of Group B in the Champions League.
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Before being quick to pan the England international’s Champions League cameo, however, it’s worth remembering that the right-back spot is not the defender’s natural position.
Beyond that, the 24-year-old is coming back from a long-term injury and has only played four times this season across all competitions.
It’s certainly an error on Gomez’s part, of course, having been caught on the wrong side of the Porto attacker, though not one that ultimately cost us the tie.
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it is easy to find fault and the key to failure is always trying to please everyone. There will always be someone (fan or not), who will find something to complain about. Michael Owen is such a person. Were LFC perfect? No, did we keep a clean sheet? No. Did we win with a healthy margin? Yes. Did we have any serious injuries? None that we have been made aware of. Will we go again against MCFC? Most definitely. They say if you do not have anything good to say about someone, rather keep quiet. So I won’t say anything about this pundit.