Steve McManaman slaughters Borna Barisic for what he did in first half of Rangers vs Liverpool
Steve McManaman was absolutely furious with Rangers defender Borna Barisic for what he did in the first half against Liverpool.
The Gers found themselves 1-0 down early thanks to a stunning Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick, and were under pressure for much of the half because of the pressing and intensity of Jurgen Klopp’s side.
But one incident in particular in the first half that saw Mohamed Salah run at Barisic and go unpressured throughout saw McManaman lose it live on BT Sport [4 October, 8:16pm] while in the commentary booth.
“Again, it’s so easy isn’t it?,” he said. “Look where Mo Salah touched the ball, just inside the halfway line.
“He runs, runs, runs into the box. No pressure on the ball whatsoever. None. You cannot allow him to cut in on his left foot and try to bend one into the far corner.
“You have to go and close him down somewhere on that pitch.”
Shocking
Rangers were outclassed in the first half for the majority of it, but the sheer lack of defensive effort from the Croat in that moment was criminal.
He backed up, and backed up and backed up constantly until he was inside his own penalty area and couldn’t touch Salah, who just cut in on his favoured left foot and curled an effort towards the corner.
It was only a wonderful Allan McGregor fingertip save away from being one of the easiest goals the Egyptian has ever scored, and Barisic at no point made any attempt to get close to him and apply pressure.
When you’re the underdogs in a game you have to go the extra mile to get the rewards and the setup for the team was obviously to contain and frustrate them, and that got undone in the opening minutes because of a wonder strike.
But Barisic has had question marks over his defensive abilities for a long time and he’s not helping himself with actions like that on the biggest stage.
In other Rangers news, Kenny Miller has hinted that one Rangers ace could leave at the end of the season