Gary Neville has explained why he thinks Liverpool fans should be “worried” after the defeat to Arsenal.
The Reds were beaten 3-2 by the Gunners in the big Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp’s side are now in 10th place, 14 points adrift of top spot, and six outside the top four.
Goals from Roberto Firmino and Darwin Nunez were not enough to get a single point for Liverpool in North London. The Gunners took all three thanks to an early strike from Gabriel Martinelli and a brace from Bukayo Saka.
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Liverpool have won just two of their eight Premier League fixtures so far this season and are without a victory in the top flight since the end of August. And Neville has explained why Reds fans have a right to be “worried” after the second-half display at the Emirates.
"For Liverpool, is this a blip or is this a bit of a decline in terms of how they are at this moment in time?” said the former Manchester United captain, on the Sky Sports Gary Neville podcast.
"In the first half, I thought they responded really well to an electric start. But I thought that second half was worrying for Liverpool. They looked like a shadow of themselves.
"Generally, their performance in the second half will be a worry for Jurgen Klopp - not just the performance on the ball and how they played, but also off the ball, their ability to be able to get to the ball, and press, and harass.
"There was a point five or six years ago when (Mauricio) Pochettino was at Tottenham, and obviously Klopp was at Liverpool, where I had not seen aggressive, and hunting down of the football, like that before.
"We knew that Jurgen Klopp came to this country with heavy metal football being the actual premise and principle, but that was not heavy metal football (against Arsenal), that was like bass guitar.
Neville added: "They were really, really lethargic in the second half. I'd be concerned if I was a Liverpool fan, coach or player in that second half.
"Look, they have got enough credit in the bank this Liverpool team and this Liverpool manager. And this Liverpool manager has done the best job of any manager in the last six, seven years, with what he has had to work with in terms of budget compared to the rest.
"So, they have enough credit in the bank for us not to go wild on them and say: 'This is the end of Liverpool'. That's not the case here, but there are concerns and worrying signs.
"It's the energy and the appetite in the games that they have had over the last couple of years in terms of trying to defend and press (that has been the issue).
"They look two or three yards off, and two or three yards in football is everything. If you're a yard off a world-class player it's too much."
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