Jamie Carragher has singled out Joel Matip for criticism during Liverpool’s defeat in the Champions League.
The Reds kicked off their European campaign with an awful 4-1 loss away to Napoli in Italy.
Liverpool were trailing 3-0 at the break and within two minutes of the second half it was 4-0.
Piotr Zielinski added a fourth goal early in the second half, dinking over Alisson following a routine long ball which caught Jurgen Klopp’s back four off guard.
Matip had just replaced Joe Gomez moments earlier and Carragher has said his part in the concession is just ‘unbelievable’.
He told CBS Sport: “This is unbelievable. Look at the position of Matip. That position is wrong. He isn’t even on the same line as the other players. He needs to be the other side of the attacker. This is two minutes into the second half.”
Almost instantly, Luis Diaz pulled a goal back for Liverpool but the damage was already done during a horrific first 45 minutes at Stadio San Paolo.
This is a worrying time because the Reds have only won two of their seven outings across all competitions this season – and even one of those was because of a 98th-minute winner at home to Newcastle United.
Liverpool haven’t been at the races this season – a 9-0 win over Bournemouth notwithstanding – and Klopp needs to address this as soon as possible.
Despite being complicit in the fourth goal, Matip is probably a stronger defender than Gomez and therefore the former Cameroon international ought to have started the game instead.
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