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Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes are in agreement about what Liverpool needs to change off the back of three successive defeats in all competitions heading into the international break.
Arne Slot's side has required lots of late winning goals this season to pick up victories, but the situation turned on its head last week with Crystal Palace and Chelsea repeating the trick deep into stoppage time via Eddie Nketiah and Estevao.
Liverpool is not in action for almost two weeks thanks to the international break, returning with a home game against Manchester United, but Carragher and Scholes believe that Slot needs to find a way of getting control of matches again — something that was a major strength for his team last season.
"The thing that’s frustrated me in the last two [Liverpool] games is that we’ve allowed a situation where it has been end-to-end games," Carragher said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
"Liverpool are better than Crystal Palace and are favored to win the game, but you’ve been battered in the first half, you’ve got it to 1-1 — I’m like [Liverpool should just] get out of there with your point.
"It was slightly different with Chelsea — when it got to 1-1, I think a title-winning team should just go and win that game, especially with the problems Chelsea had.
"But Liverpool were never in control of the game. When it went to 1-1, you expected them to win, but they were never in control. Even when [Arne Slot] brought Endo on, it didn’t feel like anybody did go and back and defend.
"That’s the thing that’s frustrating me — for a team that are champions and have such experience, and the senior players and what they’ve won, not understanding that situation, especially when you’ve played that badly.
"That’s frustrated me — not so much losing games, but the manner it happens, two straight weeks of losing."
Scholes felt that some more pragmatism could have been useful for Liverpool too, suggesting that there might have been too many changes in defense.
"Even the games where Liverpool have won, I’m not sure they’ve been in total control of them," Scholes said. "You think what’s changed from last year, and 50 per cent of the back four have changed if you bring the goalkeeper into that with his injury.
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"They’ve also lost Trent [Alexander-Arnold], the left-back [Milos Kerkez] hasn’t quite got going yet and he doesn’t look up to the standard of a championship-winning team.
"Andy Robertson, everyone thought he needed replacing, but looking at it, did he really? I think he’ll play a lot more football than he would’ve been expecting from what we’ve seen.
"A goalkeeper is becoming such a big part of football again, when you think of the presence of Alisson behind that back four. He’s maybe not going to win you games all the time, but you look at him and think they are going to miss him.
"We [Manchester United] were like that for years when Peter Schmeichel left. We couldn’t replace him until Edwin van der Sar came along and was brilliant."
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