‘He had a nightmare’: Alan Shearer slates Joel Matip for his role in Liverpool’s defeat to Wolves

Alan Shearer has slated Joel Matip for his role in Liverpool’s poor showing against Wolves on Saturday.

Matip’s own goal was the first of three goals Liverpool conceded at Molineux, with Craig Dawson and Ruben Neves completing a 3-0 win for the hosts. 

Premier League legend Shearer told Match of the Day he felt that Matip’s performance alongside Joe Gomez in the centre of defence was not up to the standard Jurgen Klopp would expect from the Reds.

Wolves dominated proceedings from the outset, going 2-0 up in 12 minutes, before Neves added a third in the second half. Shearer started by highlighting issues with Gomez, before turning on his 31-year-old defensive partner. 

Shearer said: ‘They should have scored four or five in the first 20 minutes, they were that good and that dominant. But Liverpool were too easy to play against, they’ve become a soft touch, no energy. 

Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day that Matip ‘had a nightmare’, including his own goal

‘In the last three away league games, they’ve conceded three goals. There was no pressure on the ball, Gomez gets dragged out and then you’ve got time to pick your pass, it’s too easy, Gomez is out of position.

‘But then have a look at Matip. You’ve got time to pick your pass, put it in behind, Matip stops. He’s on his way over there to go and close him and he stops. I don’t know what he’s doing. 

‘I mean, he had a nightmare today. [After the backpass] Matip again, not acceptable, not good enough, that should be in the back of the net. [Klopp’s] not getting anywhere near enough out of that Liverpool team at the minute.’

Shearer’s fellow pundit Ian Wright wondered if Klopp was the right man to take Liverpool out of their current predicament.

Wright said: ‘You have to say, can he get this team going again? Are they responding to him? It doesn’t look like they are.

‘You’re thinking, can they have a reset this season? Write this season off and sort it out in the summer. But you don’t know what’s happening in the summer, who’s getting sold or what’s going on. It seems like at the moment, they’re in limbo.’

As Sportsmail previously reported, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher also hit out at the club’s ‘shambolic’ defence, in a tweet posted amid their poor result on Saturday afternoon. 

Gomez came into the Liverpool side for the Wolves match, having replaced Ibrahima Konate, who partnered Matip for the Brighton match which also ended in defeat. 

Matip’s central defensive partner against Wolves, Joe Gomez, was also criticised for his play

Ian Wright asked if Jurgen Klopp was the right man to get Liverpool out of their predicament 

Carragher said he felt that Klopp’s backline urgently needed the return of star man Virgil Van Dijk, who has missed recent matches with a hamstring injury.  

Liverpool, who now sit 11 points off the Champions League places, are next in action when they host the Merseyside Derby against Arsenal’s conquerors Everton. 

Speaking after the Wolves defeat, goalkeeper Alisson accepted that Liverpool could forget about qualifying for the Champions League based on their current form, and called on the Reds to ‘stop conceding silly goals’.