Ronnie Whelan was not impressed with Joel Matip’s defending today as Liverpool drew 4-4 in a spectacular pre-season friendly against Greuther Furth.
Speaking on LFCTV, the pundit took aim at the Cameroonian centre-back for his defending for on of Furth’s four goals this afternoon, with the Liverpool backline all over the place against the German side.
Mohamed Salah reduced a draw for the Reds as Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled greatly against Furth, with Matip one player facing the most criticism from pundits and fans for his performance.
Indeed, few would have expected Liverpool to struggle so badly today against Furth. And Matip himself will be fuming with how poorly he performed in a crucial pre-season fixture.
Whelan said on Matip’s defending today: “That looked offside for me. But let’s go on to what happened every that. Every Liverpool player stops, Matip makes a bad clearance.
“He should get this away. Either kick it out for a corner, but he tries to be smart with the outside of the right foot. Then everybody stops, Tsimikas has a go at the forward and again it’s too easy to score goals against Liverpool.”
Liverpool have taken some harsh lessons from Furth result
Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Germany has been crazy, to say the least, with the Reds conceding six goals against second-tier opposition in games that Jurgen Klopp will be far from pleased about.
With the defence still looking rusty and the midfield looking to take shape, more time is certainly needed for Liverpool on the training pitch if they’re to get the best out of everyone for the new season.
And for Matip, the defender will be hopeful of impressing in the next pre-season fixture later this week against Leicester City, where a clean sheet will be a welcome improvement for the Reds.
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