Stan Collymore drew attention to the poor performances of Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker in Liverpool’s defeat to West Ham United at the weekend.
David Moyes’ high-flying men put an end to a 25-game unbeaten streak for the Reds prior to the return of the international break.
“I don’t think Liverpool underestimated the challenge of what West Ham were bringing but I think there were deficiencies in Liverpool’s game today,” the 50-year-old exclusively told Empire of the Kop.
“It won’t go down as Alisson’s best game in a Liverpool shirt.
“Arguably, all three goals could have been dealt with better. There was the own goal to begin with then perhaps you could be really unkind and say he could have got a stronger hand to the strike for the second goal. The third goal, corner comes all the way across and he follows the line of the ball.”
The blame did not solely lie with the Brazilian shotstopper, however, with the ex-striker highlighting the poor performance of Andy Robertson compared to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s.
“Disappointments? Robbo. He’s playing against a young rookie at right-back, had plenty of opportunities in his favour, in a well-advanced left-side position. Didn’t cut past the full-back and put crosses in!” Collymore added.
The former Nottingham Forest hitman suggested that the Scots’ poor form should encourage Jurgen Klopp to favour the club’s backup option in Kostas Tsimikas, saying: “If Trent was nine out of 10, I thought Robbo was a four or a five today.
“I’m not quite sure if that’s an ongoing injury issue but if Tsimikas is playing better then Tsimikas must play.”
Generally a consistently top performer for us, it was a shame to see Alisson being partly responsible for the scoreline in question.
Of course, we’d argue that sub-par performances extended beyond the goalkeeper and Robertson, with us being far too easy to play through courtesy of West Ham’s blistering counters.
Nonetheless, we’ll be expecting us to bounce back once domestic football returns later in the month, with our Champions League success allowing Klopp an opportunity to rest a number of his first-choice stars midweek.
#Ep21 of The Red Nets Podcast: Should Salah win the Ballon d’Or? Respecting West Ham… and more!