The 0-0 draw at the Emirates might have been a “bore draw” for the neutral, but the post-match studio at Sky Sports was anything but quiet. Roy Keane, a man who famously has no time for “passengers” or “slackers,” has delivered a scathing assessment of a Liverpool player whose performance he believes is actively “poisoning” the team’s chemistry.
In a rant that has gone viral across social media, Keane focused on a startling statistic: one Liverpool star—rated a dismal 5/10 across the board—managed to have fewer touches of the ball than goalkeeper Alisson Becker during his 75 minutes on the pitch.
“Shelve Him Before It’s Too Late”
Keane didn’t mince words when describing the impact of the unnamed superstar. For a team that spent nearly £450m in the summer to revamp their identity under Arne Slot, seeing a marquee name “hide” in a big game was the final straw for the United legend.
> “His performance clearly shows that he is doing more harm than good to the chemistry of the team,” Keane stated, his eyes fixed on the camera. “His gameplay was sloppy, his movement was non-existent, and frankly, it was quite disappointing. If you’re a manager and you see your striker or your main playmaker having fewer touches than the keeper who spent most of the night watching the rain, you’ve got a problem. Keep him on the bench now before it’s too late.”
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The “Alisson Comparison”
The statistic that sent Keane “nuclear” was the touch count. While Alisson remained active in the buildup, recording 42 touches, the Liverpool attacker in question finished his night with just 28 touches before being hauled off by a frustrated Arne Slot.
* Alisson Becker: 42 touches, 1 save, 100% pass accuracy.
* The “5/10” Star: 28 touches, 0 shots on target, 4 times dispossessed.
A Chemistry Crisis?
Keane’s “chemistry” comment echoes the “virus” narrative that has haunted Anfield this week. The suggestion is that certain players are not buying into Slot’s rigid, analytical structure, leading to a disjointed attack that has now failed to score in three of their last five big-game encounters.
“You can see the body language,” Keane continued. “He’s waving his arms when a pass doesn’t reach him, but he isn’t making the run to get the pass in the first place. He’s a passenger on £300k a week, and he’s dragging the young lads like Bradley and Gravenberch down with him. You don’t build a winning culture by catering to egos that aren’t producing.”
The Verdict: The Bench Awaits
With Liverpool now sitting 14 points behind Arsenal and facing an internal “civil war,” Keane’s advice to “shelf” the player might be the only way Slot can reassert control. If the “preliminary agreement” for a new manager is indeed real, Slot’s final act might be to finally drop the “untouchable” star who has become the face of this mid-season slump.
The message from the pundits is clear: In the hunt for a title, there is no room for a “virus,” a “circus,” or a player who is out-touched by his own goalkeeper.
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