Jamie Redknapp has criticised Liverpool’s ‘amateur’ handling of the situation following Joe Gomez’s injury, with a seven-minute spell playing with just 10 men proving costly as the Reds conceded their second goal in a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth.
Liverpool fell behind in the 26th minute when Evanilson gave the Cherries the lead after Virgil van Dijk failed to clear the ball. Gomez was injured in the build-up, colliding with goalkeeper Alisson while attempting to block Evanilson’s strike
Despite Wataru Endo being readied to replace him, Liverpool continued with 10 men for seven minutes without kicking the ball out of play. That delay proved pivotal, as Alex Jimenez doubled Bournemouth’s advantage in the 33rd minute, finishing through Alisson’s legs.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Redknapp said: ‘You can see it’s a nasty injury (to Joe Gomez), you give him maybe a minute or two, then you try to make a substitution.
‘This took seven minutes before Liverpool decided to make a substitution. Then they obviously ended up conceding that second goal. I find it staggering in this day and age that you’re going to have a situation like that.’
Carragher was keen to stress that the blame lay largely with the players for not taking responsibility, saying: ‘We’ve gone through (the footage) a few times because we want to check and give Liverpool the benefit of the doubt. (To check) have they got an opportunity to kick it out? Has there been a free kick? Has the manager spoken to the players and made this a priority for everyone?’
Gomez was injured in the build-up to Evanilson’s opener for Bournemouth, colliding with goalkeeper Alissonwhile attempting to block Evanilson’s strike and subsequently limping off
Alex Jimenez doubled Bournemouth’s advantage seven minutes later finishing through Alisson’s legs and with Liverpool still playing with 10 men after failing to replace Gomez
Jamie Redknapp criticised Liverpool’s ‘amateur’ handling of the situation on Sky Sports
‘Because I don’t just want to criticise the manager or backroom staff. Sometimes you as a player you take responsibility. You realise you’ve got 10 men. Gravenberch has dropped into the back four, (so you think): “What can we do about this?”
‘Nobody was saying, let’s get the ball out of play, let’s get a centre back on. They don’t take the opportunity.’
Carragher did, however, lay part of the blame on Slot’s backroom staff for attempting to give Endo instructions while they should have been prioritising getting him onto the field.
‘Arne Slot is telling his players to get the ball out of play while someone is giving (Endo) instructions. Just get him on the pitch. It’s of paramount importance that you get him (Endo) on. Get your kit off and get on the pitch, mate.
‘I used the words amateurs at half-time. It’s not good enough.
‘Endo should have been on the pitch four minutes earlier. If he was on, the goal doesn’t happen.’
Slot defended his side after the final whistle, insisting that there wasn’t an opportunity to bring on Endo when it became apparent that Gomez would not be able to return to the pitch.
The Liverpool boss said: ‘We went down to 10 men. You can’t bring a player on sooner if the ball is not out of play. The moment he (Gomez) said he was injured he said he wanted to keep on trying but then he said he couldn’t go back in.
‘We kept the ball and the moment we lost it, it took us a long time, we couldn’t make a foul to get the ball out of play.’
