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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Connor O'Neill

Graeme Souness sends blunt message to Liverpool players and addresses 'confidence' issue

Graeme Souness believes Liverpool’s players need to take a long look at themselves following an underwhelming start to the season.

Though Liverpool preserved their 19-month unbeaten home record having fought back from 2-0 down against Brighton, the Reds were still held to a frustrating draw at home on Saturday afternoon. Leandro Trossard grabbed a hat-trick as Jurgen Klopp’s side dropped more points.

The chances of Liverpool bringing the Premier League crown back to Anfield for the second time under Klopp look to be a distant dream, with the Reds currently 11 points behind leaders Arsenal in the table. Next up for the Reds is a Champions League clash against Anfield and Souness believes Liverpool’s players need to inject more energy into the performances.

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“You’d start by saying they have a lot of fabulous players there, but a lot of them are not at it,” the former Scotland international told talkSPORT when asked about his old club’s form.

“You can ask yourself why is that happening as [Klopp will] be using the same terminology when he speaks to them. The training will be the same, they’ll be staying in the same hotels and they’ll be repeating all the things that have brought them success.

“But they appear to be lacking the energy to play the brand of football they want to play. They want to be in your face, have those midfield bullies that are constantly on the front foot. That is missing is something they need to address.

“I go back to that Napoli game, the first game of the Champions League, and they were just so far off it. And they haven’t really got any better since then.”

The former Liverpool skipper then continued, saying: “Confidence comes from within. It comes from winning games. If you’re a big player, you don’t need to be told when you playing well or not.

“These are players who are lucky to be at such a big club, but who are way short right now. They need to take a look at themselves. It’s still in there somewhere and they are still a very good team. And you don’t become a bad team overnight. But I will accept they are a country-mile being off where they’ve been over the last five or six years.”

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