Liverpool legend Steve McManaman admits he saw some concerns in defence for the Reds in Sunday’s Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace.
The Reds were held to a 2-2 draw by a stubborn Eagles side, who then went on to triumph 3-2 on penalties at Wembley Stadium.
Speaking afterwards, it seems McManaman was not too impressed with new left-back Milos Kerkez as he singled him out for blame on the first Palace goal.
The Hungary international joined Liverpool from Bournemouth this summer and looks like he should end up being a fine signing, but he didn’t make the best start for his new club today.
Milos Kerkez blamed as Liverpool conceded to Palace
Hugo Ekitike had given LFC an early lead, only for Jean-Philippe Mateta to equalise from the penalty spot shortly after.
In the build-up, Kerkez played Palace’s attackers onside, with McManaman worried about a few moments the Liverpool defence looked slightly unconvincing.
“It was Kerkez playing everybody onside,” the former England international said on TNT Sports, as quoted by the Metro.
“Everybody stepped forward and the left-back was stepping backwards. That gave Palace the opportunity – and Palace were exploiting it a lot of the time.”
He added: “I think the two goals today – not taking anything away from Crystal Palace – but if we’re talking about Liverpool’s defensive issues, they were defensive mistakes“There are things to work on and they will get better the more they get used to playing with each other as they are new players in a new system.
“But there are causes for concern because they are a bit vulnerable defensively.”
Arne Slot concerned about Liverpool defence
Speaking after the game, Arne Slot was also concerned about his Liverpool side’s poor defensive record in pre-season.
See below as the Dutch tactician addressed the issue…
Slot admits his attacking players actually look better in some ways than they did for much of the previous campaign, but he’s clearly concerned that his team no longer seem to be as solid as they were.
Could this be the result of changing so much at the back in one summer? Jeremie Frimpong has notably replaced the departing Trent Alexander-Arnold, while the arrival of Kerkez might see him start ahead of Andrew Robertson on a regular basis, as he did today.
