Liverpool Echo writer Ian Doyle was left concerned by the performance of one Reds player in Monday afternoon’s 4-4 draw against Greuther Furth.
A very eventful second half saw Jurgen Klopp’s side 3-1 ahead at one stage before going 4-3 down and ultimately rescuing a share of the spoils thanks to Mo Salah.
Joel Matip was among the 11 players introduced at half-time, but he didn’t enjoy his best day in a red shirt, particularly in the lead-up to Lukas Petkov’s goal which pulled it back to 3-2, being far too weak in the tackle to allow the German to score.
In his player ratings piece for the Liverpool Echo, Doyle wrote of the Cameroon defender: “Worryingly off the pace and indecisive for large parts of his showing and weak in dealing with second Greuther goal.”
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Even allowing for it being a pre-season game with much-changed line-ups and some cobwebs still to be shaken off, Matip will be very disappointed with his display against Greuther Furth.
His part in Petkov’s strike left a lot to be desired, and he was the lowest-rated Liverpool player by Sofascore with a mere 5.5, being ‘credited’ with an error leading to a goal.
With Jarell Quansah alongside him at centre-back during the second half, ideally the Cameroonian would’ve been a steady guiding hand for the youngster alongside him, but at times it didn’t work out quite like that.
It’s not a performance Matip will care to remember, but we know he’s capable of much better and hopefully it was just a case of pre-season kinks being ironed out ahead of the serious stuff starting back in August.
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