Former Manchester United and Leicester City midfielder Robbie Savage has questioned the role of the Liverpool midfield in some of their defensive performances.
Liverpool slumped to a demoralising 4-1 defeat at Wembley to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and their defenders were again under the scanner after another shambolic showing.
Dejan Lovren was hooked off after just 30 minutes and the Reds defence received another round of scathing criticism, but Savage feels there are also obvious structural problems in the Liverpool midfield, which are not helping their cause.
Savage remains a fan of Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson but admits that it is difficult to understand what sort of role he has been playing in the middle of the park.
And the former midfielder believes the same sort of muddled thinking is on show with the other central midfield players as none of them have a clear role to play on the pitch.
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“You can talk about the back four or back three, but what’s in front [of them]?” Savage said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Their midfield players, [Emre] Can and Henderson, are far better than me.
“Jordan Henderson has gone into Liverpool and has done unbelievably well; not the greatest player in the world, but he is captain of a massive football club.
“I don’t want to have a go at him but is Jordan Henderson a defensive midfield player, does he protect the back four or does he score enough goals?
“It’s the same with Emre Can, what is he? What are their roles in the midfield? This is what I don’t get.
“You look at [Nemanja] Matic at Manchester United, [N’Golo] Kante at Chelsea and Fernandinho at Manchester City – Liverpool haven’t got one of those players.
“[Georginio] Wijnaldum, Can and Henderson – those three at home are fantastic, but when they go away from home and play together, which player is going to break things up?
“I don’t know what the role of each one of those players is in the side.”
Liverpool have a chance to get back to winning ways next weekend when they host Huddersfield Town at Anfield.
