Roy Keane tears into Alberto Moreno and says performance against Sevilla should be the final straw for Liverpool

Left-back was at fault for both the first and second goals as Liverpool let a 3-0 lead slip to draw their Champions League clash at Sevilla

Jack de Menezes
Thursday 23 November 2017 10:32 GMT
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Alberto Moreno has been heavily criticised in the wake of Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Sevilla
Alberto Moreno has been heavily criticised in the wake of Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Sevilla (Getty)

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Roy Keane believes Alberto Moreno’s performance in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Sevilla should be the last straw for manager Jurgen Klopp after claiming that the left-back committed “pure madness” with his defending.

Liverpool saw a 3-0 lead at half-time evaporate after, having scored three goals inside 30 minutes, they conceded twice within 15 minutes of the restart before Moreno conceded a penalty deep in injury time to result in the demoralising draw.

Moreno was also at fault for the first Sevilla goal, having conceded the free-kick from which Yassim Ben Yedder scored, and gave away the penalty for the striker's second, and the comeback meant that Klopp will have to face even more questions about his suspect defence ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday evening.

Having voiced criticism of Moreno in the past, Keane once again tore into the Spaniard’s performance and claimed that some of his defending would not be seen at youth level, let alone in the Champions League.

“What he's doing for the penalty, you wouldn't see a child doing it. It's pure madness for an international player to do that,” Keane said on ITV.

“You look at the free-kick he gave away, that's nothing to do with the manager. This has nothing to do with team shape or mentality.

“I know it's a team game, but sometimes you have to point the finger and say ‘you're killing us, you're costing us’.”

Keane’s criticism of Moreno comes just three weeks after the Republic of Ireland assistant manager joked he wouldn’t watch Liverpool even if they were at the end of his garden, a reference that infuriated the supporters of his former rivals.

Moreno was at fault for two of Liverpool's three conceded goals (AFP/Getty)
Moreno was at fault for two of Liverpool's three conceded goals (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

However, while he was particularly critical of Moreno’s performance, he also questioned the capabilities of the Liverpool defence in its entirety, and believes that Tuesday’s draw with Sevilla will not be the last time this season that the back four cost the club points this season.

“Liverpool will win a lot of football matches, but when it comes to the big games they're going to come up short because they've got a couple of defenders who just aren't good enough and they'll always get found out,” he added.

Ironically, Klopp used his pre-match programme notes to hails Moreno’s turnaround in form, having re-established himself in the first team after ousting makeshift left-back James Milner in the side. Moreno also earned a recall to the Spain squad this month, making his first appearance in three years for the national side, but his latest performance suggests that there are still the mistakes in his game that have littered his career at Anfield.

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