Jason McAteer claims Liverpool sorely missed two ex-Anfield favourites in defeat to Galatasaray | OneFootball

Jason McAteer claimed that Liverpool sorely missed the presence of two former Reds players on the pitch during their defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday night.

Arne Slot’s side fell behind to a 16th-minute Victor Osimhen penalty (which was controversially awarded), but despite having a good 75 minutes or so to respond, they never truly forced the home side’s goalkeeper into any spellbindingly brilliant saves.

Virgil van Dijk said after the match that there’s no need for panic after losing two games in a row, but he acknowledged that his team need to improve in upcoming matches if they’re to prevent a blip from turning into a lasting malaise.

McAteer: Liverpool miss a Milner/Henderson-type character

McAteer was on punditry duty for beIN SPORTS last night, and he felt that Liverpool could’ve done with two vocal on-field leaders who represented the club during Jurgen Klopp’s managerial reign.

The former Reds midfielder said: “Do you know what I worry about? When it wasn’t going well under Jurgen Klopp, they had James Milner and Jordan Henderson – real characters not just off the pitch but on it.

“When those balls were given away tonight, if Jordan Henderson was on the pitch, he was at them. He was pointing the finger at you and it’s like, ‘You don’t do that again’.

“He demanded a mindset on the football pitch – ‘You don’t give that ball away again. You don’t expose us again, and if we get punished, it’s your fault. Don’t do it’.”

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Do Liverpool need new leaders to emerge under Slot?

Liverpool aren’t bereft of on-field leaders in the current squad – Van Dijk is a colossal captain and senior players like Mo Salah, Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker (all 31 or older) also help to drive standards in training and on matchday.

However, it was notable that, with the exceptions of the skipper and goalkeeper, every other Reds starter last night is 26 or younger, with seven of the starting XI under the age of 25 in a line-up which was more inexperienced than usual from Slot.

The statistics from the match would suggest that we weren’t terrible in terms of ball distribution – our pass completion rate was 84% compared to Galatasaray’s 66% (FBref), while five of the 10 outfield starters had a pass success of 90% or greater (Sofascore).

The eye test tells a different story, though. On numerous occasions last night, Liverpool coughed up possession all too cheaply – even the usually rock-solid Ryan Gravenberch lost the ball dangerously close to our goal just before half-time, tracking back to give away a free kick and take a yellow card.

Would things have been different had a Milner or Henderson been on the pitch to issue a few rollickings? We’ll never know, but we understand the point that McAteer is making.

Alas, those two great leaders belong to a different era at Anfield, and we now need the current crop of 20-somethings to step up and assume a demonstrable leadership mantle in Slot’s side.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Galatasaray press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: