LIVERPOOL EXPECT MORE from Naby Keita, according to former Chelsea and Blackburn forward Chris Sutton, who believes the midfielder’s showing against West Ham ‘cost Liverpool a couple of points’.
The 23-year-old has struggled to impress since joining the Reds last summer from German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig for £50 million.
On Monday, the midfielder delivered another uninspiring performance in their 1-1 stalemate with the Hammers.
Keita failed to properly track Michail Antonio, who equalised from a clever free-kick situation. And the 45-year-old pundit has expressed displeasure at the performance of the Guinea player.
“So, you’d have expected your players, you’re talking about experienced enough players, to switch on. Keita was the one who switched off in terms of the free kick,” Sutton said on 5Live.
“That’s a poor individual error and if you want to win titles, and you have a team as strong as Manchester City who you’re competing with, you can’t afford those errors.
You expect more from Keita and that is the difference with Liverpool.
“That one error, that one moment from Keita switching off, has cost Liverpool a couple of points.
“They paid a lot of money for Keita, so on that basis, you’re asking somebody to do their job in that moment when the free kick was materialising and it was popped to [Robert] Snodgrass and at the point he’s making the pass, Antonio had already made his run but Keita has to see that.
“I don’t understand how he doesn’t see that really. It’s a poor error of judgement from a player who he invested a lot of money in!”
Liverpool have now been pushed to the second spot in the log by Manchester City who defeated Everton 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Keita has made 18 league appearances this season for the side and, if given another chance, will hope to win over his critics when they play host to Bournemouth on Saturday.
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LeBron is definitely the best player in the NBA this year. Harden puts up great highlights and is unbelievably skillful but not a better player this year.
@kevcrowley: is that why Curry wipes the floor with him in the finals… you know, the part of the season that matters?
@Jonathan Nolan: curry wasn’t even Finals mvp , and in the finals the last two years it’s been pretty much 4 v 1 with a bit of Kevin Love and Kyrie last year
@Jonathan Nolan: curry can blow hot and cold beteeen quarters and have Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson take over scoring. James played every minute nearly and has huge defensive responsibility on top. No comparison with Curry
@kevcrowley: every minute??!! Is that why he was on the bench or sitting at the side of the clock for 20 minutes per game 2 & 3?
@Aidan Holden: is that Curry’s daily for having a team around him?
@kevcrowley: bottom line is LeBum James only has as many rings as Larry Bird, yet he’s been in almost twice as many finals. The guy has skills, but he’s a chump. At the end of a career it’s rings that are the legacy, and LeBum will be hard pressed getting another one
@Jonathan Nolan: do you think calling him LeBum makes you sound smart and reasonable?
@Jonathan Nolan: well in that case a ‘chump’ is the 2nd greatest player of all time
@Jonathan Nolan: your opinion on basketball is complete rubbish I’ve seen all the top players in the league play live and LeBron is superior than every single one of them
Instead of calling people bums take the time to actually watch them play basketball in the flesh before you talk
Your opinion is complete rubbish
@Aidan Holden: after Larry Bird and Magic Johnson? Aren’t you forgetting about Jordan?
@Barry McCarthy: No, would be the answer to that one Barry. It’s just my opinion. He’s the most over hyped player in NBA history. You are entitled to your own opinion. Fair enough
@Jonathan Nolan: MJ number 1 LBJ number 2
Should’ve won it in 2011 but This year Harden was a fair choice
@Ruairi Doyle: in 2011 he wasn’t starting and averaged about 10 ppg what?
4-0 says it all. And LeBum was the one with 4 x L’s against his name at seasons end
@Jonathan Nolan: weird
@Jonathan Nolan: 4-0 says absolutely nothing since its REGULAR SEASON MVP.