Steven Gerrard said that he felt ‘hurt’ watching Liverpool in their comprehensive defeat away to Aston Villa on Friday night.
The Reds’ hopes of Champions League qualification took another dent as their opponents instead sealed a place in the tournament for next season by winning 4-2, with Virgil van Dijk’s stoppage-time goal doing little more than giving the final scoreline a slightly less embarrassing feel.
It was the Merseysiders’ 12th Premier League defeat of the season – 50% more than the past two combined – and the most in a single campaign since 2014/15, while their tally of 52 top-flight goals conceded is the most since the division was reduced to 20 teams in 1995 (Transfermarkt).
Speaking on TNT Sports‘ coverage of the FA Cup final on Saturday, Gerrard didn’t mince his words about just how downtrodden he was to see what’s become of the club he represented with such distinction in his playing career.
The former Reds captain fumed: “The performance was terrible. It was awful. It was difficult to watch from start to finish, and it hurt me watching Liverpool last night. I don’t normally say that.
“It was a tough 90 minutes and they got what they deserved. They had no fight, no desire, no passion, no patterns of play, no connection. They’re not moving around the pitch together. Individuals are miles off what I know they can perform at.
“It hurt me to watch Liverpool last night – nowhere near good enough.”
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Gerrard’s comments will resonate with every Reds fan who’s suffered through this utter shambles of a season, and the sad reality is that his words could’ve been said after so many performances over the past few months, not just Friday night.
Even when Liverpool lost 7-2 at Villa Park in October 2020, it was a freak result as we didn’t lose another league game for three months. Friday’s mess was merely the latest body blow in a campaign which has been full of them, and it’s hard to see things getting better any time soon.
As Ray Houghton said, the manner in which Arne Slot’s team ‘crumbled’ after equalising was frightening. Van Dijk’s first goal should’ve been a springboard towards a second-half resurgence; instead, it felt like an outlier in a game where Villa were thoroughly deserving winners.
It felt like Liverpool’s season in microcosm – every time there’s been a flicker of hope towards a positive outcome, it’s soon followed by chaos and self-destruction to make our lives so much harder.
Gerrard played in Reds teams which habitually finished closer to mid-table than the Champions League places, but rarely has there been one which has seemed more inferior to the sum of it parts than this current side.
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Of course it hurts. The away fans leaving the stadium says alot about the football we play today. We have to stop the rot now.
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