Graeme Souness believes Liverpool’s players are as much to blame for their dismal season as poor manager Arn Slott. The Anfield legend has also questioned the team’s willingness to implement fundamentals and make changes, with the Reds in real danger of ending the season without a trophy and without Champions League football next season.
Liverpool suffered a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, followed by a disappointing 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. The Reds currently face a stiff challenge in securing a top-five finish, having won just twice in their last eight games across all competitions. And while Slott’s position is facing increasing scrutiny, former Liverpool captain and manager Souness insists playing staff are also to blame.
“I don’t look straight at Arne Slott,” he said. “I’m not saying he’s innocent, but if you’re a manager you’re responsible for everything that goes wrong, but I’d like to start with the players.
“There are statistics that show they consistently run less than their opponents. That’s the starting point. You’re not trying as hard.
“When you work hard with the ball, it happens naturally – moving to receive, creating angles, manipulating the ball. It’s when you don’t have the ball that the hard work really becomes important. I think we didn’t press enough, which made the back four vulnerable.”
“The players in the locker room have to look at themselves after a season of indifference.”
Souness added: “When I was at Liverpool, the message was simple: work as hard as your opponents and you’ll be fine because you’re good players. We haven’t had enough of that this season.”
“For those who want to complicate the game with tactics and analysis, sometimes it’s the basic thing – not matching the opponent’s effort.
“And when you have quality like Liverpool, I say to them, you can beat anyone on the day. But the first thing you have to do is match the effort of the opposition, and Liverpool have not been able to do that consistently this season.”
Despite losing to PSG in midweek, Liverpool preserved many of their best performances heading into the Champions League, notably defeating quarter-finalists Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, as well as Marseille and Italian champions Inter Milan.
Speaking on behalf of the Express, Souness told Sky Bet: “The Premier League is tougher than anywhere else. The intensity is higher.”
“And I think especially of Italian football when they play European teams, but those leagues are not at the same level. Italy has not qualified for the World Cup for the third time in a row.
“That says it all. The French Ligue 1 is one of the outstanding teams. And I don’t know how good Real Madrid and Barcelona are.”
