Brendan Rodgers has been heavily criticised by two former Liverpool legends after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.
Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness both took exception with the 4-3-3 formation that Rodgers is trying to use, suggesting he simply doesn’t have the right players to use it.
The criticism came after Liverpool’s meek display at Old Trafford in which lead striker Christian Benteke looked isolated. Rodgers deployed Danny Ings on the left and Roberto Firmino on the right.
“There was not enough help for Benteke,” Carragher said. “I don’t understand what the point was in playing Danny Ings in that wide position. He didn’t give the support to Benteke.
“You think about how many strikers Liverpool have on the books and they have no wide players. They’ve only got Jordon Ibe. Firmino is not a wide player and Coutinho played there last week and he’s not a wide player.
“I don’t understand this obsession with playing 4-3-3. Brendan Rodgers came to the club wanting to play 4-3-3 and it didn’t work.
“The great season they had was with two strikers and how they got them into the team is down to the manager. They’ve got a lot of strikers, no wide players, and he continues to play 4-3-3.”
The defeat was Liverpool’s second in a row and leaves them ninth in the Premier League with seven points from five games.
Former Liverpool manager Graeme Souness was equally perplexed by some of Rodgers’ decisions.
“The first thing you have to do with players is make them feel comfortable in positions they’re playing in,” he said on Sky Sports.
“Firmino doesn’t want to be out there. On the other side Ings doesn’t want to be there. Right away they’ve got an excuse: ‘This is not my position, I’m not used to it’.”
Souness continued:
“Ings spent most of that half running towards his own goal. He would class himself as a striker, he doesn’t want to be doing that. What Firmino is I’m not quite sure, we might see that as the season pans out.
“You’ve got square pegs in round holes and it just doesn’t work. You have to make people feel they are playing in positions they are happy to play in and Liverpool haven’t got that right now.
Are Carragher and Souness right with their criticism of Rodgers and his formation at Old Trafford on Saturday?
