“Rubbish…” Michael Owen Slams Three Liverpool Players For Their Part In Bournemouth Defeat

“Rubbish…” Michael Owen Slams Three Liverpool Players For Their Part In Bournemouth Defeat

BT Sport pundit Michael Owen says that Liverpool trio Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all responsible for Bournemouth’s winning goal on Saturday.

The Reds’ defence were all over in the place in the build-up before Philip Billing slotted the ball home, and Owen laid the blame at the door of the three players:

“Virgil van Dijk ends up going in where you think he shouldn’t. But then Konate can see the whole picture. Van Dijk has gone in with his man. I think it’s a 50-50, I think Konate tries to play offside when he can see everything in front of him and he needs to be sprinting back, as it is, van Dijk gets back in, then Billing and Alexander-Arnold at the back post.”

“Trent Alexander-Arnold ends up coming to the back post, totally losing his man, and then it’s a simple finish in the end. I think Konate can do better (to stop the cross). But Trent completely loses his man. It’s a rubbish goal to give away.”

To be honest with you, Bournemouth could have won by more goals than they did. It was a terrible all-round performance, with Alexander-Arnold himself admitting after the game that their opponents simply wanted it more.

It’s typical of Liverpool’s season that they followed up a sensational 7-0 win over Manchester United with such an awful display at the Vitality Stadium.

Where it leaves the Reds’ hopes of a top four finish is anyone’s guess but, if they don’t improve their away form quickly, they won’t be playing any form of European football next season.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.