‘I wasn’t impressed’ – ESPN pundit takes aim at Liverpool despite statement win over Chelsea | OneFootball

Liverpool sent out a statement of intent with their 2-1 win over an in-form Chelsea team on Sunday, but one pundit was critical of the Reds’ overall performance.

Arne Slot’s side had to be resolute in getting over the line on a day when the visitors had more shots (12 to 9) and possession (57%) but nonetheless returned to west London beaten for the first time since August.

Although it felt like the standout result of the Dutchman’s reign so far in terms of the calibre of opposition that Liverpool slayed, Steve Nicol was left feeling short-changed by the manner in which his former club secured the three points.

Nicol unimpressed with Liverpool

The 62-year-old told ESPN FC: “They’ve passed the test in terms of the result, but I’m not so sure they’ve passed the test in terms of the performance. If I’m a Chelsea player, I’m going home thinking, ‘How did we not get something out of that game?’

“The fact that Chelsea had more passes, more possession, more shots, tells you that this wasn’t as impressive as I had hoped for. In fact, I wasn’t impressed. I don’t enjoy Liverpool playing at home at Anfield against anybody and sitting back and trying to play counterattacking football, because that’s what it was.

“Maybe we just have to get used to looking at a different type of Liverpool, because under Klopp, particularly at home, this is our place and we’re squeezing the life out of anybody who wants to come to our field and try to play. This absolutely was the opposite.

“The result is great, the result is perfect, and you can’t complain about three points, but I’m sorry – the performance for me wasn’t particularly great.”

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

The result is everything!

Despite Nicol insisting that he ‘can’t complain’ about Liverpool winning, he certainly did a good job of that in his assessment of the result.

We agree that it was by no means the type of imperious performance which’ll go down in long-term folklore, but it was one in which the Reds still exhibited many qualities often shown by teams contending for the Premier League title.

They showed the greater quality in the final third, most notably for Curtis Jones’ winning goal, whereas Chelsea never truly tested Caoimhin Kelleher despite bossing the shot count.

Even serial champions in Manchester City have days where their overall levels are well below the standards they’re capable of reaching, yet they show enough grit, determination and resolve to come away victorious (or, in yesterday’s case, a dollop of luck from a hugely contentious refereeing decision).

There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Of course we’d all love to see Liverpool playing teams off the park and racking up huge scorelines every week, but that simply doesn’t happen. Even when we won the title in 2019/20, there were plenty of games where we just about did enough to claim three points.

Sure, there’s room for improvement performance-wise for the Reds, but it’s invariably better to win with a 6/10 display than draw or lose despite dominating in every aspect except the scoreboard.