Michael Owen slams Liverpool trio for “rubbish” Bournemouth goal in defeat

Michael Owen slams Liverpool trio for “rubbish” Bournemouth goal in defeat

Michael Owen, a legendary Liverpool player, criticized Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Trent Alexander-Arnold for their involvement in Bournemouth’s winning goal on Saturday.

The loss was a setback for Liverpool’s ambitions of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League. Dango Ouattara managed to get past Van Dijk on the right flank, and Konate was unable to prevent his cross.

As a result, Phillip Billing was able to score unmarked, with Alexander-Arnold being blamed by Owen for failing to cover him.

Despite Liverpool’s attempts to mount a comeback, they suffered their eighth defeat of the season.

“Virgil van Dijk ends up going in where you think he shouldn’t, but then Konate can see the whole picture. Van Dijk has gone in with his man,” Owen told Premier League Productions.

“I think it’s a 50-50, I think Konate tries to play offside when he can see everything in front of him and he needs to be sprinting back, as it is, Van Dijk gets back in, then Billing and Alexander-Arnold at the back post.

“Trent Alexander-Arnold ends up coming to the back post, totally losing his man, and then it’s a simple finish in the end. I think Konate can do better (preventing the cross). But Trent completely loses his man. It’s a rubbish goal to give away.”

Liverpool had an opportunity to level the score with a penalty kick, but Mohamed Salah surprisingly missed it. This caused frustration for Klopp, and Liverpool is now in sixth place in the Premier League table, six points behind fourth-place Tottenham.

After the defeat, Trent Alexander-Arnold called for his teammates to improve their performances, and he cautioned them about the challenging opposition they will face as the season enters its final stretch.

“We created chances, we had our chances to score [and] we never, obviously we had the goal disallowed. But we started on a bright foot and I think they just sucked the life out of the game and it was difficult for us to build momentum,” he said.

“They slowed the game down and executed their game plan and then go and score the goal. But it’s one of those – it was very avoidable, the goal, and it’s disappointing looking back on it.

“This is the time of the season when everyone knows what they are fighting for and obviously Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, so they are fighting for survival. But every team in the league is fighting for something.

“It means a lot to get the three points and I think looking back on it now, they probably wanted it more than us and that is something that is unacceptable and we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.”

Michael Owen slams Liverpool trio for “rubbish” Bournemouth goal in defeat