Gary Neville used his post-match podcast to eviscerate the second half efforts of Liverpool's attackers after the Reds fell to their third consecutive defeat in all competitions with a 2-1 defeat away at Chelsea. The ex-Manchester United man went as far as to call the efforts of Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo as "completely useless" in the closing moments of the fixture.
Neville criticises Liverpool attackers for poor display at Stamford Bridge
Neville was talking from the gantry at Stamford Bridge on his customary post-broadcast podcast. He had just watched Liverpool fall to a chastening defeat, after it had appeared they would mount another late comeback in this nascent season.
Former Anfield target Moises Caicedo opened the scoring for the Blues in the first half. His piledriver from all of 30 yards gave Premier League debutant Giorgi Mamardashvili no chance in the visitors net. Gakpo levelled the scoring in the second half, as he latched onto an Alexander Isak flick on in the box to fire into the roof of Chelsea's net. Despite wresting back some momentum after the break, Liverpool wilted in the dying embers, allowing Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian to steal the show in injury time as he converted from close range to send the home fans into raptures.
It certainly felt the game was there for Liverpool to win after the Dutchman's equaliser, especially as Chelsea had to contend with injuries to Benoit Badiashile and Josh Achemeapong, forcing Maresca into a makeshift centre-back pairing of Jorrel Hato and Reece James in for the final half-hour. Ultimately, the champions' wasteful play in the attacking third let them down, and seemingly frustrated Neville to boot.
AdvertisementWhat Neville said about Liverpool's attackers in loss to Chelsea
Neville said: "Games are won by intent, teams that look like they want to win. I'm not saying Liverpool didn't, they obviously did, but I thought that after they scored I was really disappointed by the level of their performance. A lot has been made of Liverpool's defensive work, and rightly so, but today that's not why they've lost this game.
"They've lost this game because in the last 15-20 minutes, their creative players, their players in the final half of the pitch, the midfielders and the forwards who were absolutely useless. They were giving the ball away like you wouldn't believe.
"Gakpo down here, Salah over on that far side; the wastage. Wirtz not knowing how to get into a game in the last 15 minutes when it was there for the taking, and just almost sort of marking Caicedo, I was watching him a lot."
What GOAL made of Liverpool's attackers
As with all major Premier League ties, GOAL cast their eye over the proceedings at Stamford Bridge. Our player ratings for the Reds backs up some of Neville's criticisms.
The Egyptian King, so long Liverpool's talisman, was given the lowest rating, as our writer asked the question: has Salah's finishing ever been this bad? The reigning Premier League Player of the Year was given just 3/10 for his wasteful performance in front of goal.
We were slightly more generous to Wirtz and Gakpo, giving each player a 6/10 and 8/10 respectively. However, we agreed with Neville that while the young German made an impact upon entering the game, he faded badly as the proceedings drew to a close.
Getty Images SportStats: Liverpool's attacking performance at Stamford Bridge
The Reds probably feel they did enough in the attacking third to steal at least a point at Stamford Bridge. According to Opta Analyst's xG model, Liverpool created 1.74 xG to Chelsea's 0.88.
The issue lied in Liverpool's inability to work Robert Sanchez in the host's goal. Of the their 12 shots, just two were on target. Conversely, Chelsea forced four saves out of Mamardashvili on top of Estevao and Caicedo's successful attempts.
According to analytics wizz Statman Dave, Salah failed to win a single duel or complete a successful dribble. All three of his attempts failed to work the keeper. The Egyptian had the fewest touches (35) of any outfield player that completed the full 90 minutes.