Andrew Robertson bemoaned the wretched combination of wasteful finishing and lax defending that is betraying Liverpool’s attempts to become champions.
The Scotland international was one of his side’s better performers in their ruinous 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace and it was only his stunning intervention in the 28th minute, when clearing off his own line, that stopped the situation being even worse.
Liverpool have had a habit of falling behind in matches this season but often found a way to win. On this occasion, though, they couldn’t get away with it as they fluffed a number of glorious opportunities in the second half to give themselves a fighting chance of success.
‘It’s been the story of the last few games and that’s why we have been punished,’ Robertson grumbled.
‘We are struggling to keep clean sheets right now. I don’t know how many we have had in the last 10 or 15 games but it won’t be many. When you do that, you have to take chances, it’s that simple.
Andy Robertson has hit out at his side’s poor finishing and dismal defending vs Crystal Palace
Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat at Anfield on Sunday and dropped points in the title race
Liverpool have fallen two points behind Man City, but are still level on 71 points with Arsenal
‘The boys in front of goal have to do better. But the boys at the back, as defensive unit as a whole, we have to do better.
‘It isn’t a great thing for success. It was so frustrating, we had so many chances. First half I thought we were poor and they were in top and could have been more than 1-0 up.
‘Second half we had enough chances to win two or three games.’
That may be true but it also doesn’t reflect how good Crystal Palace played. Oliver Glasner’s side were well-drilled, tactically excellent and worked from first kick to last.
They deserved whatever slices of luck came their way and had had a number of individuals who excelled.
‘You always want to defend well and attack well but in the first half I really liked the confidence,’ said Glasner, who feels this victory has effectively secured safety for his team.
‘Liverpool makes a lot of pressure but we played and scored the first goal with 20 passes and many players in the box.
Robertson admitted his frustration and claimed his side’s first-half performance was poor
Eberechi Eze put the visitors 1-0 up side-footing the ball into the net after just 14 minutes
Oliver Glasner admitted that victory effectively ensured safety for his Crystal Palace side
‘This is what we work on. We have a lot to do to keep this intensity for the whole 95 minutes and to release us from the pressure of the second half.
‘We had one big chance after the set play but we didn’t have these situations we created in the first half. We need to defend as a fantastic unit.’
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