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What's the story?
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that Liverpool are not playing with freedom at the moment, insisting that nervousness is creeping into their game and affecting their performances.
In case you didn't know...
Liverpool are chasing their first Premier League title and the Reds are currently just one point behind leaders Manchester City.
However, they have struggled to get going in the last few weeks, winning just three of their last seven league games. The Merseysiders have eight games left to play as they look to end their long-standing drought.
The heart of the matter
Speaking to talkSPORT(via Goal.com), Ferdinand urged Liverpool to start playing with freedom again in order to end their Premier League drought.
He said:
“They’ve been great this season but they need to take advantage of this opportunity. They don’t come around all the time. What I’ve been seeing from Liverpool in the big matches is a bit of nervousness creeping into their game – they’re playing with a handbrake on at times.
“They’re playing a little bit uptight, and it’s understandable because they’ve not won anything for years.
He further elaborated:
“What has excited everyone about this Liverpool team under [Jurgen] Klopp is the freedom they play with, and at the moment it’s a bit too stop-start for my liking.
“The Premier League is the hardest title to win, at United we were fortunate to win as many times as we did during my spell there.
“You’re competing against some of the biggest and best teams in world football at the end of the day.”
What's next?
Liverpool will play Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on March 14. The first leg ended in a 0-0 draw. They will then return to Premier League action to take on Fulham.
