Steve Nicol absolves one Liverpool player of blame for Reds’ “worst performance in a long time”

Steve Nicol absolved one Liverpool player of blame for what he described as his former club’s ‘worst performance in a long, long time’ on Sunday.

The Reds fell to their first Premier League defeat in almost seven months yesterday when going down 3-2 at Fulham, paying the price for a catastrophic first-half performance in which three very preventable goals were conceded.

The back four of Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Curtis Jones were collectively poor and each had individual moments of culpability, with the Frenchman even being hauled off midway through the second half and the Scottish right-back eviscerated by Jamie Carragher over his error for the hosts’ second goal.

Nicol gives Jones a pass for Liverpool’s defensive ‘chaos’

Nicol was prepared to excuse Liverpool’s number 17 given that he was playing out of position at right-back due to the absences of natural options in that position, but he ripped into the rest of the defensive quartet for a calamitous showing at Craven Cottage.

Speaking on ESPN FC, the ex-Reds defender raged: “That was easily Liverpool’s worst performance in a long, long time… Jones played right-back last week. You can do that at home, but it’s not realistic thinking he can go away to Fulham – a team who are likely to get at you – and expect him to defend properly, so I do not have any blame attached to Curtis Jones.

“The other three [defenders], however – that must be their worst three games, both as a unit and as individuals, in a Liverpool jersey. It was just utter chaos, and Konate getting substituted at the end – he certainly couldn’t complain about it.”

Jones wasn’t totally blameless, but Nicol right to have some sympathy

Whilst Nicol is right to acknowledge that Jones has had to pick up something of a graveyard shift by filling in at right-back through necessity, the 24-year-old must still take some culpability for yesterday’s result.

He practically supplied the assist for Ryan Sessegnon’s equaliser with a terrible loose touch in Liverpool’s penalty area and struggled to contain the threat of Alex Iwobi on his flank, with the Nigerian scoring one goal and setting up another.

To be fair to the Toxteth native, though, he looked much more comfortable when reverting to his natural midfield position once Conor Bradley was introduced midway through the second half, and the Reds were vastly improved after that substitution and tactical tweak from Arne Slot.

With the Northern Ireland youngster fit again and making a difference when he came on, surely he’ll be in the starting XI for next Sunday’s clash against West Ham, and Jones could find himself in the number 10 role should Dominik Szoboszlai pay the price for an ineffective display at Fulham.

Liverpool’s number 17 wasn’t completely blameless at Craven Cottage, but he was by no means the worst performer in a red shirt. A vast improvement is needed all-round for the Irons’ visit to Anfield in six days’ time if we’re to avoid another stumble in the title run-in.