Shearer hammers ‘leggy, puzzled’ Van Dijk and two other Liverpool ‘shadows’ | OneFootball

Alan Shearer has slammed “leggy, puzzled” Virgil van Dijk and two other Liverpool “shadows” for their performances this season.

The 4-1 battering by PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on Wednesday made it nine defeats in 14 for the reigning Premier League champions, there worst run since 1954, after which talk of sacking Arne Slot has ramped up significantly ahead of their clash with West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.

Slot’s side then have games against Sunderland (H), Leeds (A), Inter (H), Brighton (H) and Tottenham (A) before Christmas in what looks to be a relatively gentle run of fixtures, though there won’t be too many Liverpool fans thinking of positive results in those games given how they’re playing.

Van Dijk has been heavily criticised after his absurd handball set PSV on their way to victory on Wednesday, and Shearer has hit out at him and two of his Reds teammates for slumping so hard this season, and also questioned a particularly “strange” Slot decision.

Speaking to Betfair, Shearer said: “I think the damaging thing for Arne Slot and for Liverpool at the minute is the manner of the defeats.

“If you’re going down and you’re unlucky, conceding unlucky or last-minute goals, then you say, okay, there’s plenty to work on.

“But the manner of the defeat… it’s hard enough losing any game, but the way they’re being beat has to be a huge concern because they’re all over the place. If it was one problem, maybe you could fix it, but there’s issues all over the pitch.

“In forward positions, they look devoid of ideas. Defensively, it’s a massive worry. They’re struggling for a right-back, and (Dominik) Szoboszlai started there, then (Curtis) Jones went in there. Kerkez has been really poor.

“Van Dijk, well you look to your captain to put in big performances, yet Virgil’s performances… he looks leggy, slow, puzzled. He’s a shadow of the player from last season, as is Konate. I suppose you can say that about any Liverpool player right now.

“We’re talking about him because he’s the captain and voice of the dressing room. His words at the weekend were concerning, saying they need to look at themselves, do better, roll up their sleeves, and fight.

“Well, he’s got to lead by example, and at the minute, he’s a shadow of himself.

“You can say the same about Salah, Konate, and most of the new signings, other than (Hugo) Ekitike, who went off injured. Even then, Slot left him out at the weekend, which I thought was strange. Other than him, there’s not a lot of responsibility being shown.

“Jamie Carragher pointed out that Salah is quick to speak when he gets Man of the Match or is negotiating a new contract, and I understand that side of it.

“But the time for talking is on the pitch, not off it. Whether you do interviews or not is irrelevant, you do your talking with performances. Salah isn’t doing that, Van Dijk isn’t, and many others aren’t either. That’s the real concern.”