11 March 2023 , 15:33
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Liverpool lost against Bournemouth because they were complacent against the Premier League’s bottom side, according to Peter Crouch.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were beaten 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium in Saturday’s early kick-off, with Philip Billing’s first-half goal enough for the Cherries to move out of the relegation zone. Liverpool thrashed Manchester United 7-0 last weekend but were blunt in attack on the south coast.
Their best chances came from the head of Virgil van Dijk before an Adam Smith handball gave them a penalty. Mohamed Salah stepped up but smashed his effort wide of the post as Liverpool drew a blank against the league’s leakiest defence.
Former Liverpool striker Crouch was shocked by how bad Klopp’s team were and claimed that some of the players simply were not motivated enough.
“It’s easy to get up for a Manchester United game,” he said on BT Sport. “It’s a lot harder to come to Bournemouth, bottom of the league, for the early kick-off.
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“100 per cent [it was] complacency, you saw it in a lot of the play. Some of the passes were sloppy, some of the defending was really lax – trying to play offside, doing the lazy things, not going with runners.
Mohamed Salah spurned Liverpool's only real chance from the penalty spot (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)“We saw it with the goal – people switching off, not tracking back with the same intensity that they had last week. Top teams don’t play like that. Also a top, top team, when they come to Bournemouth, you expect them to have 20 shots on goal, have some cleared off the line, some luck here and there. But in all honesty Bournemouth deserved it today.
“The best chances for Liverpool today were some set pieces, Van Dijk headers, there was nothing really clear cut. I think [Diogo] Jota came on and made a difference, but other than that there were no clear-cut chances.”
Jota tested Neto with a curling effort and it was his header which struck Smith’s hand, but Bournemouth were rarely troubled in the second half. The result saw Liverpool miss the chance to put pressure on Tottenham in fourth place before Spurs play Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
Virgil van Dijk had a shocking first half against Bournemouth (STEVE BARDENS/AFP via Getty Images)Ex-Liverpool winger Steve McManaman was similarly unimpressed with the away side, who came into the game in strong form in the league but were strangely flat. “It certainly looked like that [they weren’t up for the challenge], I thought they were terrible today,” he said.
“Contrasting fortunes for both teams. Everything Liverpool did well last week when they won at Anfield was completely the opposite today. They were lethargic, they were slow, they moved the ball sideways so many times, there was no urgency to go forwards.
“Defensively, [they had] five clean sheets, they looked as if they couldn’t play again today. Stepping forwards when they don’t need to, always taking chances trying to play offside, and they’ve arguably got the quickest back four around. They just never looked as if they were going to win.”