Craig Burley spotted something during Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Fulham on Sunday which he felt was indicative of their harrowing afternoon in west London.
The Reds missed the chance to go 14 points clear of Arsenal yesterday after a horrific first-half display saw them consigned to a first Premier League defeat in almost seven months, but a third in four matches across all competitions.
The pundit still believes that the Merseysiders will be crowned champions, but similar to Paul Scholes, he feels that it’s looking like more of a stumble than a gallop to the finish line for Arne Slot’s side.
Burley noticed arguments between Liverpool players
Speaking on ESPN FC after Liverpool’s defeat at Craven Cottage, Burley said: “They’re gonna get over the line, aren’t they, but the jockey’s hanging on to get to the end line with his stirrups, and it’s a good stop that they’ve got the gap that they have, but they were arguing with themselves during this game.
“Van Dijk was having a pop at Szoboszlai. That’s the captain of Holland having a right go at the captain of Hungary. Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were arguing at one point during the game.”
“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing because you don’t want the complacency, but I think it tells you where they are, that they’re getting a little frustrated that they’re going to win the league but it’s all a bit of a whimper at the moment.
“They’re out of these big competitions that they were very much in the mix for, and it’s almost like they just want to get it over with sooner rather than later.”
On-field arguments summed up dreadful day for Liverpool
We wouldn’t lose too much sleep at the sight of various Liverpool players having arguments with each other on the pitch, something which isn’t a common sight between teammates at an elite level of football given how high the stakes are.
However, the visible on-field tiffs definitely seemed indicative of what Burley’s ESPN colleague Steve Nicol bemoaned as the Reds’ ‘worst performance in a long time’, with too many members of Slot’s side culpable of amateurish errors against Fulham.
LFC should still have enough of a lead built up to be able to absorb a couple more setbacks until the end of the season, but fans won’t want to see what had looked like being a procession to the title gradually turning into an uncomfortable scramble to get over the line in first place.
We imagine that the arguments between the Liverpool players on Sunday were left on the pitch rather than being allowed to fester throughout the week – the last thing we need now is for tension to arise between teammates when there’s a Premier League crown to be won.
Let’s hope that the Reds can make amends for yesterday’s disappointment by bouncing back with a convincing win at home to West Ham next weekend, and duly going on to claim the top-flight title without the run-in become nervy.
