Giorgi Mamardashvili had his first Premier League action at Anfield on Sunday, but it wasn’t an evening to remember for the Liverpool goalkeeper.
The 25-year-old’s debut for the Reds came on home soil last month (against Southampton in the Carabao Cup), and he’s currently deputising for the injured Alisson Becker, who’s projected to miss at least the next couple of matches.
The Georgian unfortunately saw another two goals go past him yesterday as Manchester United triumphed on Merseyside, with Harry Maguire netting a late winner for the visitors.
Shortly before the match-defining moment, Mamardashvili was seen raging at one of his teammates, as observed by Paul Gorst for the Liverpool Echo.
Mamardashvili seen fuming at Szoboszlai
With the game level at 1-1 and Liverpool pushing for a winning goal, Dominik Szoboszlai took a quick throw-in back to the goalkeeper but left it a bit short, forcing the latter to sprint out and clear his lines hurriedly before dispensing an earful to the Hungarian, who by then had moved to right-back.
Maguire’s goal didn’t stem directly from that incident, but it came roughly a minute later as Man United sensed (and duly seized) their opportunity to grab all three points.
Gorst summarised: ‘It was an incident that summed up the frazzled thinking that has blighted Liverpool of late as they have chased late winners, only to be hurt.’
Liverpool need to show cooler heads when games are in the balance
One trait that the Reds demonstrated in the early weeks of Arne Slot’s reign last season was cool heads, with their play being calm, controlled and measured. So far in the current campaign, things could hardly be any more different.
Incredibly, all eight of our Premier League matches this term have been decided by goals in the 83rd minute or later, either for or against us, with Jamie Carragher understandably lamenting the alarming rate at which Liverpool’s defence has been breached (11 goals conceded so far).
The lack of joined-up thinking between Szoboszlai and Mamardashvili captured the frantic nature of LFC right now, with the team often looking disjointed and lacking the cohesion which characterised 2024/25. A summer of heavy investment partially explains that, but doesn’t entirely excuse it.
Right now, the Reds could do with going back to being, well, a bit boring. If we win 1-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt and Brentford in two matches which are grim to watch for neutrals, that’d help to restore confidence among the squad and suggest that sustained improvement might be forthcoming.
We’re not advocating that Liverpool sit back and hang on for a one-goal victory if they score first on Wednesday and/or Saturday, but rather that they find the right level of control so that the games don’t become as frantic as almost every match we’ve played so far this season.
You can watch Slot’s full post-Manchester United press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
mr. arne slot the system you are trying to implement in players of 4-2-3-1 is good but our players right hasn’t yet copied up with it . and that formation needs a typical no. 6 to balance the engine room and the defense for sure .And am suggesting to drop back to our old formation of 4-3-3, which at least gives the balance in both midfield and defensive mechanism or we go 4-4-2.
Thank you.
I was devastated to see LFC demolished by weaklings , Man.utd because of Slot one dimensionalism.The guy has no plan B if the first one does not work.With the quality at LFC Klop would be unstoppable.The selections of Slot are questionable, as he selects players on what they did in the past.Slot chooses Salah and Kerkes not on current form but on what they did last year.It was a mistake for LFC to sell Diaz & Nunez simultaneously.Slot needs to be relieved of his duties before it is too late.
Slot was moaning in the press conference after the game about the tactics of Manchester United and their low block. Surely he new what United would do they played the same way last season at Anfield. United play the long ball so they can’t get pressed passing out from the back, then they win the second balls. Harry Maguire is in the team because he’s a threat from set pieces. As many have said it’s one of the worst ever United teams to win at Anfield. Most teams will play a similar way against us because we can’t handle the physical side of the game. Expect more of the same against Brentford. If I was manager at set pieces you have van dijk on maguire at set pieces, not szoboszlai or curtis Jones. For there to be any improvement and hope for slot he needs to take a leaf from how Arsenal play. BE hard to beat, be resilient without the ball, strong at set pieces, do the basics, and if you can’t win the game take the draw. Start playing three central defenders and play like crystal palace, we’ve got the wing backs to play the system. Three in midfield, unless we stop shipping goals slot won’t be manager for long. The next two games I would gladly take nil nil draws clean sheets right now.