Liverpool suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the season to Wolverhampton Wanderer.
Former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness has launched a devastating attack on the Reds’ midfield.
And the three-time European Cup winner believes midfield reinforcements should have arrived at Anfield last summer after the club failed to pursue AS Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
Liverpool suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the season on Saturday afternoon when they were well beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Joel Matip headed the ball past Alisson Becker and into his own goal after just five minutes as the Reds continued their reputation as the slowest starters in the league.
The signing of Craig Dawson in January doubled the home side’s lead minutes later when he was on hand to take advantage of a horrific stretch from the defense by Andy Robertson, Joe Gomez and Alisson to strike home from inside the box . Captain Ruben Neves ended the second-half humiliation with a superb counterattack to leave Liverpool 10th in the Premier League table.
Naby Keita, Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic were called up ahead of Harvey Elliott, Jordan Henderson and (ill) Fabinho for the West Midlands clash and only the 18-year-old Spaniard left the pitch with respect for his two starting partners who endured a hot afternoon.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Super Sunday cover on Sunday, Souness admitted it was too easy to play his former side in the middle of the park given their success in the Premier League and Champions League thanks to tenacity by Wijnaldum, Fabinho and Henderson.
“A year ago they should have been looking for midfielders to buy last summer,” he said. “A year ago it started to show in midfield. The best midfield they had was Wijnaldum, Henderson and Milner – a lot of energy, technically not brilliant, but just a lot of energy and they bullied the players.
“They won it big and gave it to the boys, the top three, and they would start from there. Their problem isn’t easy to solve at the moment because you look at Keita’s midfield, the young Spaniard and Thiago, and they come being bullied, and if you get bullied there, you’re usually on the wrong foot.”
Liverpool’s midfield has been the main topic of almost every post-match conversation this season, with Fabinho and Henderson suffering a dip in form since last season’s quadruple quest back-end.
Naby Keita’s ongoing struggle for fitness has seen Elliott involved in every game pick this season when he was still just 19 years old.
Before the end of last season, Liverpool tried to secure a deal for Tchouameni, but the French international rejected Anfield’s interest in favor of a move to Real Madrid.
The Reds completed Arthur Melo’s loan deal on the final day of the summer transfer window after Henderson picked up an injury against Newcastle United, but the Brazilian has played just 13 minutes for the Reds this season and recently been dropped from the club’s Champions League squad for Part Two.
However, a major overhaul is set to take place this summer as Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita are all out of contract and the Reds are set to finally pursue their interest in England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham.