Liverpool fans might be shocked at which Reds player was labelled ‘a real disaster’ in PSV rout | OneFootball

One Liverpool player was labelled a ‘real disaster’ in the 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night, but Reds fans might be surprised to discover who had that criticism thrown at them.

After another crushing blow for Arne Slot’s side at Anfield in a season which is unravelling horribly, several of those in red shirts were singled out by an assortment of pundits over their performances.

Jamie Carragher lamented that Ibrahima Konate is ‘going through an absolute nightmare‘ and Virgil van Dijk is ‘not the same player‘ as before, while Didi Hamann tore into Mo Salah over what he felt was a ‘disgraceful‘ lack of effort out of possession for the visitors’ second goal.

Dutch pundit takes aim at Hugo Ekitike

Also in the firing line after the final whistle was Hugo Ekitike, who went off with an injury to his back after an hour.

Dutch pundit Youri Mulder was highly critical of the Liverpool striker’s display against PSV last night, saying on Ziggo Sport (via Voetbal Zone) that the 23-year-old was ‘a real disaster’ and also labelling him the ‘weakest link’ in Slot’s team.

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Ekitike was one of Liverpool’s better players on a wretched night

It doesn’t surprise us to see quite a few of the Reds players being subjected to such strongly-worded criticism after yet another abject team performances, but it does seem rather shocking that our number 22 was called out so harshly by the former Schalke 04 striker.

In our view, Ekitike was one of a very select few who could be satisfied with their individual effort on Wednesday night, and that was also reflected in the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle awarding only him and Dominik Szoboszlai higher than a 5/10 in his post-match player ratings.

Sky Sports reporter Adam Bate was also complimentary of the Frenchman, praising a ‘livewire display’ as the 23-year-old ‘justified’ his recall to the starting XI in place of Alexander Isak, and he’ll be a huge loss for the Reds if his injury rules him out of upcoming matches.

Mulder’s criticism of the France striker as LFC’s ‘weakest link’ seems baffling to us – if anything, he was one of the few who linked up well with his teammates on the pitch, and Slot pointed to his enforced withdrawal as having a negative impact on his team’s play in transition.

Ekitike might now be without a goal in six Liverpool appearances, but he was certainly one of our better performers on a wretched night against PSV, and for the Dutch pundit to deride his performance so bluntly is mystifying.

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