The behaviour of four of Liverpool’s first-team squad before kick-off against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday has drawn criticism from a former player
Liverpool players were filmed doing kick-ups in the tunnel at Old Trafford(Image: Instagram/stansportfc)
Liverpool have bizarrely been accused of showing disrespect to Manchester United after footage of a group of the squad doing kick-ups in the tunnel at Old Trafford surfaced.
Arne Slot’s side were beaten 3-2 by United in the Premier League on Sunday – and Don Hutchison has now criticised their actions before the match.
Goals from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko saw United race into a 2-0 lead before sloppy mistakes saw Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo level the scores. Kobbie Mainoo’s low strike from the edge of the box won it for United, who completed their first league double over Liverpool for 10 years.
The result underlined the struggles Liverpool are dealing with at the moment and footage showing the relaxed atmosphere among senior players before kick-off didn’t help their case. Footage posted on social media showed Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong kicking a ball around inside the Old Trafford tunnel.
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That didn’t go down well with Don Hutchison, who played for the club in the early 1990s. He wrote on X: “I can’t get my head around the Liverpool players doing keepy-ups inside the Man Utd tunnel. [Jurgen] Klopp + [Jordan] Henderson + [James] Milner etc etc would never have allowed these sort of standards to drop.”
Asked to clarify what he meant, Hutchison added: “I think the issue with this is.. I looks like disrespect to the opposition that you’re doing keeps-ups in their tunnel. Not focused. Concentrate on the team meeting/the instructions from the coaches/tactics. Be diligent in thinking about your opponent. It looks sloppy.”
Defeat by United ended a run of three straight league wins for Liverpool, who sit fourth in the Premier League, seven points behind their rivals. After winning the title in Slot’s debut campaign, they have struggled this season and will finish without a trophy later this month.
On Sunday, Liverpool lost for the 18th time this season (Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
HAVE YOUR SAY! What do you make of Liverpool’s players doing kick-ups in the tunnel? Comment below.
The news that Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson will leave the club at the end of the campaign will further dilute the senior leadership group that Hutchison referred to, with Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker the only long-serving regulars left, although Alisson is also being linked with a transfer.
Defeat on Sunday was Liverpool’s 18th of the season in all competitions and Slot was left to bemoan another poor performance. “The margins are not so big on us being able to win a game like this, I know what we can improve on and we are already working hard on this,” he said.
“The same issues keep coming back which is not a huge surprise as you don’t have long to fix it during the season. Tactically you can change certain things but for me it is clear where we have to improve and we will.”
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