On Sunday evening’s Studio Voetbal, Liverpool came in for harsh criticism following their painful defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Arne Slot’s side lost 4-0 away to Manchester City and put in a shockingly poor performance. Analysts are expressing serious concerns about both the attack and the defence.
Liverpool suffered a heavy blow at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland was the man of the match with a hat-trick, whilst Mohamed Salah even missed a penalty. Slot’s side started reasonably well, but completely fell apart after the break.
During the broadcast, Boudewijn Zenden highlighted the structural problem at Liverpool. “Football is simple: if you score just one more goal, it’s fine. But if you don’t score and your defence is full of holes, you’re in trouble.” According to the former winger, the team currently lacks stability.
Zenden saw several players fall below par. “Haaland scores three, Konaté doesn’t look good, Van Dijk isn’t looking sharp either. Gomez is marking the wrong way; there’s simply too much going on.”
Rafael van der Vaart sees a stark contrast with last season in Slot’s team. “Last year things often just fell into place, in the last minute. Then you say: that can’t be a coincidence. But football is also a bit about luck and right now things just aren’t going our way.” According to him, it’s now becoming clear just how narrow the margins are.
Wim Kieft directed his criticism mainly at Salah, who disappointed once again. “I understand he’s an icon, but he’s not contributing anything anymore. Zero.” The analyst openly questions whether the striker still belongs in the starting line-up. “I do understand the difficulty of that, because he’s an icon, and you might be afraid that things will completely collapse after that.”
Kieft is surprised by the Egyptian’s rapid decline. “Surely it can’t be that it’s suddenly all over? That you’re too old and can’t do it anymore?” Van der Vaart adds that Salah lacks the explosiveness he had in previous years.
Arno Vermeulen concludes by expressing concerns about Virgil van Dijk’s prospects for the Dutch national team. “Koeman will be worried about Van Dijk. When you see the pace of City’s attackers and how Van Dijk moves, you can’t afford to give away too much space at a World Cup.”