Liverpool have fallen significantly from last season, when they won the Premier League title under manager Arne Slott, and with Champions League qualification not guaranteed, Roy Keane has stepped up to the plate.
Roy Keane criticizes Liverpool this season (Image: Sky Sports)
Manager Roy Keane has told Liverpool to absorb the criticism they faced this season for failing to defend their Premier League title. The Reds won the league title last season, but have not been able to produce results this season with their defense.
Arne Slott’s side are currently sixth in the table after 24 games and are in danger of qualifying for the Champions League. A number of players have been criticized throughout the season, with Virgil van Dijk recently speaking out on some of the topics.
Van Dijk told Gary Neville that pundits have a “responsibility” when talking about players. “Personally, I can handle it, but I’m a little worried when I think about the next generation. I feel that former top players have a responsibility to the new generation.
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“I think criticism is completely normal and part of the game and should be, but sometimes it becomes clickbait, provocative, or done without considering the mental impact on the players, especially the younger generation who are constantly on social media.
“You can say, ‘Yeah, you shouldn’t be on social media.’ That’s something I’ve told (them) many times. Whenever you’re having a good game, young players check out all the positive praise, but when you have a bad game and you get bullied or bad criticism on social media, it can really affect you. I’ve seen it with certain players in the past and present, because it’s not that easy.”
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“It’s going to get worse and worse because these days on platforms, there’s clickbait and headlines and everyone is always paying attention to it.
“I think there’s a responsibility, especially to former pros and top players who have been through everything as well, to protect that aspect a little bit as well. That’s probably something to consider.”
Speaking ahead of the game between Liverpool and Manchester City, Keane insisted his players must soak up the criticism after receiving so much praise last season. “We praised Liverpool all last season, they were outstanding, they were really good,” Keane said. “But if you’re 17 points behind the league leaders at this stage of the season, you should be criticized.
“I think you have to shut up about that – yeah, I’m always worried when it comes to personal things and I can understand why players get upset, but when you’re criticizing the openness of the Liverpool team, the number of games they’ve lost, the way they’ve lost at home lately, guess what, you’re going to be criticized!
Arne Slott’s Liverpool are already out of the Premier League title race (Image: Getty Images)
“I mean, last year we were doing really well and when we were celebrating by going out to Ibiza for a couple of weeks with five or six games left, we sacked the players a little bit – you might not like it – because you go out and win the league.
“But when that’s not the case and they’re as far from that world as they were all those years ago, I said and I’ll say it again, they were really bad champions. They’re still in Europe and the FA Cup, but apart from their performance in the league, they’re going to be criticized, because they’re so far from it.”
“It’s very difficult to win the league and even more difficult to win it consecutively, but when you’re so many points behind the top teams, you’re going to be criticized.”
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher agreed with Keane. When Sky Sports presenter Dave Jones asked if the Reds had been “bad champions”, the pundit replied: “Yes…Roy said that four or five years ago the last time we won, but I couldn’t agree with that because, as I said at the time, Liverpool were missing four centre-backs and they had kids at the back. But this season, I think I completely agree.”
“You have to remember that what Liverpool did in the summer was not just to strengthen the team, but to put themselves in a position to do what City have been doing for the last few years, which is to win the league three times in five years.”
“It wasn’t like, ‘We’re going to be happy with one league win.’ What City have done, what United have done, what Chelsea have probably done, what Liverpool supporters are feeling now, and I felt in the summer, ‘It’s time to win the league for three of the next four years,’ and that hasn’t happened.”
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