Naby Keita switched off as West Ham United snatched an equaliser against Premier League hopefuls Liverpool on Monday night.
Chris Sutton has slammed Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita in the wake of their 1-1 draw away at West Ham United on Monday, speaking on BBC Radio 5Live (6 February, 7pm).
Liverpool paid an eye-watering sum of £52.7 million to bring Keita to Anfield (Echo) but he looked worth every penny on the back of his outstanding performances in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig.
The all-action powerhouse was a revelation in German football, scoring nine goals and producing seven assists last season while dominating midfield battles with his unique combination of technical and physical strengths.
But Keita has looked a shadow of his Leipzig best at Liverpool and struggled to make an impression once again as they were held to a disappointing draw at the London Stadium. To make matters worse, the Guinea international was guilty of switching off as Michail Antonio drifted away from him to score the equaliser form a clever free-kick routine.
And former Blackburn, Chelsea and Celtic striker Sutton has taken aim.
“You can’t afford those errors,” Sutton said on 5Live.
“You expect more from Keita and that is the difference with Liverpool. That one error, that one moment from Keita switching off, has cost Liverpool a couple of points.
“They paid a lot of money for Keita so on that basis you’re asking somebody to do their job in that moment when the free kick was materialising and it was popped to [Robert] Snodgrass and at the point he’s making the pass, Antonio had already made his run but Keita has to see that.
“I don’t understand how he doesn’t see that really. It’s a poor error of judgement from a player who he invested a lot of money in!”
Maybe Red Bull really does give you wings. Because Keita has fallen to earth with a bump since moving to England.
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