John Aldridge was left frustrated with Liverpool’s ‘severe lack of quality on the ball’ during their goalless draw at Chelsea tonight.
The Reds at least picked up their first Premier League point in 30 days at Stamford Bridge, although they survived two (correctly) disallowed goals just to leave west London with that much.
Jurgen Klopp’s side remain eighth in the table, but are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham with only one game in hand and were leapfrogged by Aston Villa after their win at Leicester.
Taking to Twitter just after the full-time whistle, Aldridge said: “What a severe lack of quality on the ball. I can’t remember the last time I seen a Liverpool team pass so many balls to the opposition.
“Fortunately we played a team with no belief even after spending an absolute fortune!! Spirited but not good enough!! YNWA”.
READ MORE: (Video) Darwin Nunez gave one young Liverpool fan a birthday gift to remember tonight
READ MORE: (Video) Alisson and Henderson exchange angry words during Liverpool’s draw at Chelsea
When looking back at the statistics from tonight’s match, it’s no wonder the 64-year-old was bemoaning Liverpool’s sloppiness in possession.
As per Sofascore, the Reds had slightly more possession and more passes than Chelsea, although both teams ended the night with an 84% passing success rate. The visitors lost the ball 151 times in total, 13 more than their opponents.
Alarmingly, every player to feature for Klopp’s team in west London lost possession at least four times (including 79th-minute substitutes Cody Gakpo and James Milner), with six players giving the ball away 12 times or more. Kostas Tsimikas was the biggest offender with 17 losses of possession.
Luckily for Liverpool, their opponents failed to make the most of the chances they created, having almost twice as many shots as the visitors but getting fewer on target.
Ball retention is undoubtedly something to work on in training for the Reds ahead of Sunday’s clash against league leaders Arsenal, who are unlikely to let them off the hook like the Blues did tonight.
You can see Aldridge’s tweet below, via @Realaldo474 on Twitter:
What a severe lack of quality on the ball,I can’t remember the last time I seen a Liverpool team pass so many balls to the opposition,fortunately we played a team with no belief even after spending an absolute fortune!!Spirited but not good enough!!ynwa
— John Aldridge (@Realaldo474) April 4, 2023