Ian Wright baffled by 'strange' Jurgen Klopp approach to clash with Man City
Ian Wright has criticised Liverpool's press following their 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp's side snatched a point at the home of the European champions thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold's late strike. City took the lead midway through the first half through Erling Haaland but failed to double it, despite having 16 attempts on goal.
City had a lot of joy through the middle of the park. At one point during the first half, Ederson managed to pass the ball around 45 yards to Bernardo Silva. That pass took out several Liverpool players and led to Phil Foden having a shot on goal.
Wright believes Liverpool's players failed to execute Klopp's famous gegenpressing system against City and has urged them to address the problem sooner rather than later. "I don't know what they were trying to do," Wright told Match of the Day.
"Were they pressing or not? Ederson took six or seven players out with one pass. It was a problem all day for Liverpool, how easy City were able to break through their lines. It was very strange how easy Liverpool made it for them."
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Although Liverpool weren't at their best, they did well to escape Manchester with a point. Pep Guardiola's team had won 23 consecutive home games in the Premier League before Liverpool's visit on Saturday, such is their dominance in the competition.
Wright's fellow Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer applauded Liverpool's resilience. He said: "You have to give them credit for digging in there and staying in the game and coming back in the way they did. The save from Alisson kept them in the game."
Wright pointed out this pass from Ederson on Match of the Day, which took out six Liverpool players (BBC Sport)What did you make of Liverpool's performance against Manchester City? Let us know in the comments below!
Shearer was referring to Alisson's stop to deny Haaland a second goal when the score was still 1-0. Alexander-Arnold found the net just minutes after that moment. The Brazilian also produced a good save low to his left to deny Foden during the first half.
Although Alisson was on hand to deny Haaland and Foden, it wasn't a great day at the office for Liverpool's No.1. He was at fault for Haaland's goal, as he tried to pick out Mohamed Salah on the break but fluffed his kick and gave possession straight to City.
There were a couple of other poor kicks that also left Liverpool in trouble, and he suffered a hamstring injury late in the game. Shearer added: "It was an up and down day for him. He had some really good moments and some moments he would like to forget."
Diogo Jota also appeared to pick up a muscle injury on Saturday. Klopp told reporters: "The shadow on this game is obviously that Ali felt something and Diogo felt something. That’s something we have to assess. We will see."
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