Roy Keane takes aim at Liverpool players (Image: Getty)
Roy Keane has attacked Liverpool players, branding Arne Slott’s side “bad champions”. After marching towards the title last season, this season brought a lot of problems for the Reds.
Arne Slott’s side are 21 points behind Arsenal and are already out of the title race, as well as being in contention to qualify for next season’s Champions League. And they suffered a setback in that battle on Sunday afternoon when Richarlison scored a minute before time to give Tottenham Hotspur a point at Anfield.
Dominik Szoboszlai gave his side the lead after just 18 minutes, but it was another case of the same old story for Liverpool as the former Everton man pounced on a shoddy defense to secure a valuable point for his team to avoid relegation to the Sky Bet Championship.
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And speaking after the match, former Manchester United captain Keane blamed Liverpool players for their exit this season and said he believed there were bigger issues going on behind the scenes.
“I’ve said it many times before, Liverpool are bad champions, considering they were league champions last year,” he told Sky Sports.
“They were bad champions then and they were bad champions a few years ago. They are now 21 points behind Arsenal. How bad is this? It’s really bad.”
“I think there’s a problem going on in the background. I think there’s a bigger problem. We can fix little things, but I think there’s a problem going on. I don’t know if we’re all on the same page, but it just doesn’t seem like the chemistry with the players is good.”
Virgil van Dijk after Liverpool’s draw with Tottenham (Image: Getty)
“When you win a big title, sometimes you think about when you have a big challenge the next year, can you back it up?
“Obviously there can be a dip, City have fallen recently in terms of their high standards, but they are still fighting for second or third place.
“We’re not 20 or 30 points behind the teams that won the league. It’s a letdown, but Liverpool lost four games last year and were way behind, and this year they’ve already lost nine games. I think it’s hard to understand that.”
And when it was pointed out that some of last season’s defeats came at a time when Liverpool had already won the league, Keane continued: “Of course they relaxed a bit and switched off.
“But it’s pretty much that kind of thinking and last year I was criticizing Liverpool and it felt like they always partyed too much. They were partying even though they had four, five, six weeks before the game and there was a celebration after every home game and you go. You’re Liverpool Football Club. Aren’t you expected to win the league title?”
“So if you win, enjoy it, but next year let’s back it up. That’s why you’re playing for a big club, not a team that wins trophies and then disappears for 10 or 15 years. I would think the same about Arsenal.”
“Even if Arsenal win the league this year, I don’t want Arsenal to disappear for the next three, four, five years. Next year we have to back it up and not be 20 or 30 points behind the top teams. We have to compete. That’s your challenge.”
“When you concede goals like that, whether it was the recent game at Wolves or the game against Man City, I look at this group of players, their mentality, their work rate, their desire and what they do on the training pitch and I don’t like what I see in this Liverpool group. I just don’t like it.”
