Wayne Rooney believes Arne Slot was lucky to avoid criticism after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League this week.
Victor Osimhen’s penalty sealed the win for Galatasaray at RAMS Park while Slot delivered two major surprises with his line-up in Turkey as Dominik Szoboszlai started at right-back, while Jeremie Frimpong was preferred to Mohamed Salah on the right side of Liverpool’s attack.
The defeat leaves Liverpool outside of the top eight in the Champions League table and automatic qualification for the knockout phase could prove tricky as Slot’s side still have Real Madrid and Inter to play.
‘I thought they were really poor,’ Rooney said on the BBC’s ‘The Wayne Rooney Show’.
‘I think a worry for me would be them losing the game and it looked like, even with still quite a bit of time left to go, he’s just put every attacking player on the pitch and just said, ‘right, go and figure it out’.
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‘It could’ve got a lot worse for Liverpool with the amount of times they’ve given the ball away at the back and losing it and getting broke on, and Alisson getting injured.
‘I think when you win the league, like Arne Slot did last season with Liverpool, then sometimes some of the decisions you make get overlooked.
‘His decision to play a midfield player at right-back and a right-back at right wing was… [pause] for instance, if that was Amorim at Manchester United, he’d get absolutely slaughtered.’
Liverpool are next in action in the Champions League on October 22 as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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