John Barnes has leapt to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defence after a torrid time for the Liverpool defender in defeat to Arsenal.
The right-back, who suffered an ankle injury before coming off in Sunday’s game, was pinned for two of the Gunners’ goals as Liverpool fell to a 3-2 defeat on Sunday.
But Barnes, 58, believes Jurgen Klopp and the rest of the team must take their share of the blame.
He told BonusCodeBets: “Liverpool and their defenders have played in a particular way the last four years with [Sadio] Mane, [Roberto] Firmino and [Mohamed] Salah. The three midfield players are three hard-working individual players.
“Now with Thiago and Harvey Elliot and people like that, the midfield isn't as defensively strong which means that they can't defend the back four and Trent as much as they used to.
“Trent is still coming forward, he's never been in a team for his defensive qualities but it's more to do with the fact that I don't believe the midfield is strong enough to protect the back four.
“Which is why teams are now getting to Liverpool. It's not Trent's problem because it was the way that he formulated a strategy to play with Trent as an attack in midfield but expect others to defend. It's not that the team and Trent has changed, they're just going through a few teething problems.
“I don't see Trent as an issue in that team, he'll sort it out.”
Klopp has ruled out a crack at the Premier League title this season but former Reds hero Barnes thinks a top-four shot is still attainable.
He added: “I still think Liverpool can make it to the top four. They are in that transitional phase, where they need to get new players in as many are in that 30/31 year old stage.”
