Jamie Carragher’s criticism highlights big problem with Liverpool man Naby Keita

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Liverpool’s title chances faced a minor blip last night. Jurgen Klopp’s men could only manage a draw at West Ham United. It means Manchester City are now breathing down their necks in the title race.

It was a performance from which, if being honest, Liverpool were lucky to get away with a point.

The Reds did not put in their best display and Manuel Pellegrini’s side proved tough opposition.

Several players underperformed. Once again, one of those players was Naby Keita. His display in the middle of the park was simply not good enough and as a consequence Liverpool struggled to control the game at the tempo they would have liked.

His performance certainly irked Jamie Carragher. The Liverpool legend, in the Sky Sports studio for Monday Night Football, was left bitterly frustrated with the Guinean’s performance.

“Keita, who they paid big money for, in midfield keeps losing the ball. Firmino doesn’t seem himself. Salah, we didn’t see anything from him tonight.

“That’s a worry going forward. Not in terms of this pressure in the League. More actually when there are a few injuries in different positions, it doesn’t look like that solid, real Liverpool side that we’ve seen for the last four of five months. It doesn’t quite feel right.”

– Jamie Carragher on Liverpool’s performance

The simple fact is, ball retention was one of the reasons Liverpool paid such big money for the player. As reported by Sky Sports, Liverpool ended up paying £52.75 million for the player and waiting a year to bring him to Anfield.

But his performances so far have simply not been up to scratch. Fans were expecting much more from the player but, at the moment, would rather see Gini Wijnaldum and even the much maligned Jordan Henderson. The one thing he was, in particular, supposed to be good at was keeping the ball and winning it back. As Carragher points out, he is even struggling to do that.