Roy Keane has described Liverpool as “fairly average” after they were held 1-1 by Chelsea.
The Reds got off to a strong start and lead through Luis Diaz after the Colombian steered home from Mohamed Salah’s incisive pass. Liverpool doubled their lead through the Egyptian but he was adjudged to have been offside as Trent Alexander-Arnold set him through on goal.
Axel Disasi opened his Chelsea account to restore parity after scrambling the ball past Alisson. The Londoners were then left disappointed by VAR after Ben Chillwell’s goal was chalked off.
Liverpool are looking to banish the memories of their dismal campaign last season and Jurgen Klopp described the change to his side as “LFC reloaded” in his pre-match press conference. There were glimpses of a positivity from a Reds standpoint but the former Manchester United midfielder wasn’t convinced.
“I think Chelsea will be, especially after the poorer start that they had. I think Liverpool weren’t particularly good and they both looked like two fairly average teams in the second half,” he told Sky Sports. “I think Pochttino will be happy though with his new signings, but the first half I enjoyed, the second half I thought overall was quite poor.”
New Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister sparked the attack that led to the deadlock being broken. His pass was well-controlled by Salah who slid across for Diaz to stab home.
Diaz lost his marker in full-back Reece James as he was allowed a clear run on goal to fire beyond Robert Sanchez.
“That’s why I’m talking about it, James can actually see him running and he doesn’t track back. We’re always talking about systems, but James might say ‘Well I’m a wing-back and that’s not my job’, but you have to sprint back and not let him get through.
“Look, I love James, I think he’s a brilliant player going forward but when you see someone running off the back of you, there’s no excuses. No excuses.
“No, no. He might as well stop and have a cup of tea! Look at the space! James is the captain, he’s supposed to be leading by example. Look at him thinking, ‘Will I? Won’t I?’ Start sprinting back, man.”
Keane took aim at James, who was playing in his first Chelsea game since being handed the captain’s armband. He continued: “I mean, James doesn’t sprint back there.
